Non-spherical shapes of capsules within a fourth-order curvature model

TL;DR

This paper extends a curvature-based model to predict non-spherical capsule shapes, revealing that buckling and faceting transitions can occur in non-crystalline membranes, not just crystalline matter.

Contribution

It introduces a discrete fourth-order curvature model using Surface Evolver to predict complex capsule shapes including dimples and ridges.

Findings

Non-spherical shapes are energy minimizers in the model.

Buckling and faceting transitions are intrinsic to non-crystalline membranes.

The model predicts a variety of stable capsule morphologies.

Abstract

We minimize a discrete version of the fourth-order curvature based Landau free energy by extending Brakke's Surface Evolver. This model predicts spherical as well as non-spherical shapes with dimples, bumps and ridges to be the energy minimizers. Our results suggest that the buckling and faceting transitions, usually associated with crystalline matter, can also be an intrinsic property of non-crystalline membranes.