Application of the Smoluchowski equation with a source term to the model of lipid pore formation during a phase transition

Abstract

The Smoluchowski equation, which describes pore diffusion in the radius space, with a source term, is used in modeling the process of the formation of a hydrophilic pore in a lipid bilayer during phase transition. The introduction of a hydrophobic-pore source term into the equation reflects the emergence of additional defects in a bilayer caused by the decrease in the molecule area under the transition from the liquid crystalline to the gel phase. The distribution of the time probability density calculated within the model that is required for the formation of a hydrophilic pore is in good agreement with the previously published experimental data.