MEMBRANES IN ROD SOLUTIONS - A SYSTEM WITH SPONTANEOUSLY BROKEN SYMMETRY

We consider a dilute solution of infinitely rigid rods near a curved, perfectly repulsive surface and study the contribution of the rod depl etion layer to the bending elastic constants of membranes. We find tha t a spontaneous curvature state can be induced by exposure of both sid es of the membrane to a rod solution. A similar result applies for rig id disks with a diameter equal to the rod's length. We also study the confinement of rods in spherical and cylindrical repulsive shells. Thi s helps elucidate a recent discussion on curvature effects in confined quantum mechanical and polymer systems.