Folding and unbinding transitions in tethered membranes

Abstract

Molecular dynamics simulations of tethered membranes indicate that an attraction between the monomers leads to a well-defined sequence of folding transitions with decreasing temperature. With insights gained from Landau theory and simulations of bimembranes, the folding transitions are found to be intimately linked to the unbinding of membranes. Finite-size effects, mainly due to the loss of entropy from edge fluctuations, play an important role in hindering folding transitions.