Mathematical Modeling of Lipid Bilayer Membranes in Biological Fluid-Structure Interactions

Mathematical modeling of biological fluid-structure interactions at the cellular level often involves the lipid bilayer membranes. Lipid molecules are amphiphilic molecules that self-assemble to form unilamellar bilayers, which may self-enclose to form vesicles. Lipid bilayer membranes have been modeled as elastic inextensible membranes interacting with viscous stress from surrounding fluid flow. In this talk, the speaker will provide a brief introduction to the mathematical and biophysical modeling of lipid bilayer membranes. From the applied math perspective, the speaker will then present some interesting results from the past few years.

Finally, the speaker will present some computational attempts to model the lipid bilayer membrane with more molecular properties incorporated in the model. This work is supported by NSF/DMS.