CRUMPLING OF FLUID VESICLES

Models of athermal self-avoiding fluid and polymerized vesicles have been investigated by Monte Carlo simulations. There is no evidence for crumpling of polymerized vesicles, and the squared radius of gyration is proportional to the number of monomers on the surface, R2N. Fluid vesicles, on the other hand, exhibit a crumpled shape and R2N0.8. We explain our model dynamics for fluid surfaces. The time-dependent mean-squared displacement r2(t) of a monomer on a fluid surface is t0.8, whereas r2(t) t for polymerized vesicles. The corresponding configurational correlation times are N for fluid and N2 for polymerized vesicles. © 1990 The American Physical Society.