Dresden 2026 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 16: Membranes, Vesicles and Synthetic Life-like Systems II

BP 16.7: Vortrag

Mittwoch, 11. März 2026, 11:30–11:45, BAR/0205

Fluctuating triply periodic membranes: a phase-field study of diffusion in dynamic, confining environments — •Jakob Mihatsch and Andreas M. Menzel — Institut für Physik, Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg, Universitätsplatz 2, 39106 Magdeburg, Germany

Understanding how individual entities move through interconnected structures is crucial for applications in biology and technology. A key example is the diffusive motion of molecules in porous networks. This porous environment is usually not static, but subject to thermal fluctuations and interactions with the object that is transported through it. Focusing on the situation of a spherical diffusive particle confined by fluctuating triply periodic membrane structures, we investigate numerically the effect of such a dynamic environment on the motion of a confined object [1]. We employ a phase-field approach to model the membrane surface, which allows us to apply dynamic perturbations to the shape of the membrane, without having to track its location explicitly. Triply periodic membranes can form channels with narrow pores, which lead to transient trapping. We find that thermal fluctuations can widen these pores, which speeds up diffusive transport and allows larger particles to pass through the pores than one would expect for an unperturbed membrane. Our work also shows that deformation of the membrane induced by the particle plays an important role in enhancing diffusion. Our results should be directly observable, for example, during protein diffusion through biological environments.
[1] J. Mihatsch, A. M. Menzel, arXiv:2511.23192 (2025).

Keywords: diffusion; biological membrane; phase field; confinement