Micro-capsules in shear flow.

This paper deals with flow-induced shape changes of elastic capsules. The state of the art concerning both theory and experiments is briefly reviewed starting with dynamically induced small deformation of initially spherical capsules and the formation of wrinkles on polymerized membranes. Initially non-spherical capsules show tumbling and tank-treading motion in shear flow.

Elastic capsules in shear flow: analytical solutions for constant and time-dependent shear rates.

We investigate the dynamics of microcapsules in linear shear flow within a reduced model with two degrees of freedom. In previous work for steady shear flow, the dynamic phases of this model, i.e.

Two-dimensional fluctuating vesicles in linear shear flow.

The stochastic motion of a two-dimensional vesicle in linear shear flow is studied at finite temperature. In the limit of small deformations from a circle, Langevin-type equations of motion are derived, which are highly nonlinear due to the constraint of constant perimeter length. These equations are solved in the low-temperature limit and using a mean-field approach, in which the length constraint is satisfied only on average.

Adhesion of microcapsules.

The adhesion of microcapsules to an attractive contact potential is studied theoretically. The axisymmetric shape equations are solved numerically. Beyond a universal threshold strength of the potential, the contact radius increases in proportion to the square root of the strength.

Time-dependent density functional theory of classical fluids.

We establish a rigorous time-dependent density functional theory of classical fluids for a wide class of microscopic dynamics. We obtain a stationary action principle for the density. We further introduce an exact practical scheme, to obtain hydrodynamical effects in density evolution, that is analogous to the Kohn-Sham theory of quantum systems.