The forming of folded structures
Friday, November 5, 2010 - 11:01
in Physics & Chemistry
What do the convolutions of the brain, the emergence of wrinkles, the formation of mountain chains, and fingerprints have in common? All these structures, albeit very different, result from the same process: the compression of a 'rigid membrane'. A French-Belgian team involving the Statistical Physics Laboratory and the Interfaces and Complex Fluids Laboratory at the University of Mons in Belgium have shed light on one of the mysteries underlying the formation of such folded structures. This work will make it possible to better understand and thus predict their emergence. It was published in the journal Nature Physics on 31 October 2010.