Journal article

A simple model of a vesicle drop in a confined geometry

AL Owczarek, T Prellberg

JOURNAL OF STATISTICAL MECHANICS-THEORY AND EXPERIMENT | IOP PUBLISHING LTD | Published : 2010

Abstract

We present the exact solution of a two-dimensional directed walk model of a drop, or half-vesicle, confined between two walls, and attached to one wall. This model is also a generalization of a polymer model of steric stabilization recently investigated. We explore the competition between a sticky potential on the two walls and the effect of a pressure-like term in the system. We show that a negative pressure ensures the drop/polymer is unaffected by confinement when the walls are a macroscopic distance apart.

University of Melbourne Researchers

Grants

Funding Acknowledgements

Financial support from the Australian Research Council via its support for the Centre of Excellence for Mathematics and Statistics of Complex Systems is gratefully acknowledged by the authors. A L Owczarek thanks the School of Mathematical Sciences, Queen Mary, University of London for hospitality.