COMPUTER-SIMULATION OF THE SURFACE-ROUGHNESS OF LIPID-MEMBRANES

Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics simulations have been performed to study the roughness of lipid lamellar phases. These simulations were b ased on a lipid model with simplified interaction potentials. Various kinds of surface roughness have been observed in systems with differen t sets of interaction parameters. The interaction between headgroup di poles provokes the roughening of surfaces and causes the formation of ripple-like structures. The minimum length of the simulation box and t he minimum simulation time to consider these effects are about 100 Ang strom and 100 ns, respectively.