  In the mimetic membrane system of phosphatidylcholine bilayers, thickening
(pre-critical behavior, anomalous swelling) of the bilayers is observed, in the
vicinity of the main transition, which is non-linear with temperature. The
sterols cholesterol and androsten are used as sensors in a time-resolved
simultaneous small- and wide angle x-ray diffraction study to investigate the
cause of the thickening. We observe precritical behavior in the pure lipid
system, as well as with sterol concentrations less than 15%. To describe the
precritical behavior we introduce a theory of precritical phenomena.The good
temperature resolution of the data shows that a theory of the influence of
fluctuations needs modification. The main cause of the critical behavior
appears to be a changing hydration of the bilayer.
