Effects of Thermal Fluctuations on Systems with Small Surface Tension

Abstract

We consider the influence of thermal fluctuations on systems with negligible surface tension ("membranes"), whose behavior is determined by curvature effects. Fluctuations change the effective rigidity and other relevant parameters. Two-dimensional membranes appear rigid at short distances and crumpled at long distances. For more than two-dimensional membranes (or in presence of long-range forces) a crumpling transition separates a rigid low-temperature phase from a crumpled high-temperature one.