One of the most widely used methods for determination of the bending elasticity modulus of model lipid membranes is the analysis of the shape fluctuations of nearly spherical lipid vesicles. The theoretical basis of this analysis is given by Milner and Safran [Phys. Rev. A 36, 4371 (1987)]. In their theory the stretching effects are not considered. In the present study we generalized their approach including the stretching effects deduced after application of the statistical mechanics to vesicles.

• Received 14 May 2018
• Revised 29 May 2019

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.100.022416