Dynamics of flat membranes and flickering in red blood cells

(Received 3 June 1991, accepted in final form 20 August 1991)

Abstract
A theory of the dynamics of polymerized membranes in the flat phase is presented. The dynamics of dilute membrane solutions is strongly influenced by long-ranged hydrodynamic interactions among the monomers, mediated by the intervening solvent. We discuss the renormalization of the kinetic coefficients for the undulation and phonon modes due to hydrodynamic "backflow" (Zimm behavior). The dynamics is also studied for free draining membranes (Rouse dynamics) corresponding to the Brownian dynamics method used in Monte Carlo simulations. The long time behavior of the dynamic structure factor is given by stretched exponentials with stretching exponents determined by the exponents of the elastic coefficients and the wave vector dependence of the Oseen tensor. We also study the dynamics of the thickness fluctuations in red blood cells (flicker phenomenon) taking into account the underlying polymerized spectrin skeleton. Qualitatively different dynamical behavior is predicted for spectrin skeletons isolated from heir natural lipid environment.