Fluctuating hydrodynamics simulations of coarse-grained lipid membranes under steady-state conditions and in shear flow.

The stochastic Eulerian-Lagrangian method (SELM) is used to simulate coarse-grained lipid membrane models under steady-state conditions and in shear flow. SELM is an immersed boundary method which combines the efficiency of particle-based simulations with the realistic solvent dynamics provided by fluctuating hydrodynamics. Membrane simulations in SELM are shown to give structural properties in accordance with equilibrium statistical mechanics and dynamic properties in agreement with previous simulations of highly detailed membrane models in explicit solvent. Simulations of sheared membranes are used to calculate surface shear viscosities and inter-monolayer friction coefficients. The membrane models are shown to be shear thinning under a wide range of applied shear rates.