Dynamical Coarse-Graining of Highly Fluctuating Membranes under Shear Flow

Abstract

The effect of strong shear flow on highly fluctuating lamellar systems stabilized by intermembrane collisions via the Helfrich interaction is studied. Advection enters the microscopic equation of motion for a single membrane via a non-linear coupling. Upon coarse-graining the theory for a single bilayer up to the length scale of the collision length, at which a hydrodynamic description applies, an additional dynamical coupling is generated which is of the form of a wavevector-dependent tension that is non-linear in the applied shear rate. This new term has consequences for the effects of strong flow on the stability and dynamics of lamellar surfactant phases.