Lipid membranes: From self-assembly to elasticity

Abstract

In aqueous solution, lipid molecules spontaneously assemble into macroscopic bilayer membranes, which have highly interesting mechanical properties. In this chapter, we first discuss some basic aspects of this self-assembly process. In the second part, we then revisit and slightly expand a well-known continuum-level theory that describes the elastic properties pertaining to membrane geometry and lipid tilt. We then illustrate in part three several conceptually different strategies for how one of the emerging elastic parameters—the bending modulus—can be obtained in computer simulations.