Universal behaviors in the wrinkling transition of disordered membranes

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that the universal scaling behaviors observed in the wrinkling transition of disordered membranes are well explained by a nonperturbative renormalization group approach, applicable to various materials including graphene.

Contribution

It shows that the features of the wrinkling transition are quantitatively described by a recent NPRG approach, highlighting their universality across different disordered membrane systems.

Findings

Scaling behaviors match NPRG predictions

Features are universal and observable in graphene-like materials

Transition characteristics are well described by fixed points of RG transformations

Abstract

The wrinkling transition experimentally identified by Mutz et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 67, 923 (1991)] and then thoroughly studied by Chaieb et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 078101 (2006)] in partially polymerized lipid membranes is reconsidered. One shows that the features associated with this transition, notably the various scaling behaviors of the height-height correlation functions that have been observed, are qualitatively and quantitatively well described by a recent nonperturbative renormalization group (NPRG) approach to quenched disordered membranes by Coquand et al. [Phys. Rev E 97, 030102 (2018)]. As these behaviors are associated with fixed points of RG transformations they are universal and should also be observed in, e.g., defective graphene and graphene-like materials.