Shape transformations of a compartmentalized fluid surface

TL;DR

This study uses Monte Carlo simulations to explore how a compartmentalized fluid surface on spheres exhibits multiple phases and phase transitions, influenced by elastic skeletons and vertex diffusion.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed phase diagram of a compartmentalized fluid surface model, revealing diverse phases and first-order transitions driven by cytoskeletal structures.

Findings

Multiple distinct phases identified, including spherical, tubular, and wormlike phases.

Almost all phases are separated by first-order phase transitions.

Mechanical strength arises from elastic skeletons, with vertices diffusing inside compartments.

Abstract

A surface model on compartmentalized spheres is studied by using the Monte Carlo simulation technique with dynamical triangulations. We found that the model exhibits a variety of phases: the spherical phase, the tubular phase, the planar phase, the wormlike planar phase, the wormlike long phase, the wormlike short phase, and the collapsed phase. It is also shown that almost all phases are separated from their neighboring phases by first-order transitions. Mechanical strength of the surface is given only by elastic skeletons, which are the compartment boundaries, and vertices diffuse freely inside the compartments. We confirm that the cytoskeletal structure and the lateral diffusion of vertices are an origin of such a variety of phases.