Budding Dynamics of Multicomponent Membranes

The budding of multicomponent membranes is studied by computer simulations and scaling arguments. The simulation algorithm combines dynamic triangulation with Kawasaki exchange dynamics. The budding process exhibits three distinct time regimes: (i) formation and growth of intramembrane domains; (ii) formation of many buds; and (iii) coalescence of small buds into larger ones. The coalescence regime (iii) is characterized by scaling laws which describe the long-time behavior. Thus, the number of buds, N(bud), decays as N(bud) approximately 1/t(theta) for large time t with theta = 1/2 and theta = 2/3 in the absence and the presence of hydrodynamic interactions, respectively.