Abstract
After a brief introduction to several variational problems in the study of shapes of thin structures, we deal with variational problems on two-dimensional surface in three-dimensional Euclidian space by using exterior differential forms and the moving frame method. The morphological problems of lipid bilayers and stabilities of cell membranes are also discussed. The key point is that the first and the second order variations of the free energy determine equilibrium shapes and mechanical stabilities of structures
Information
Digital Object Identifier: 10.7546/giq-7-2006-237-248