Longwave nonlinear theory for chemically active droplet division instability

TL;DR

This paper develops a nonlinear longwave theory for chemically active droplets, revealing a shape instability leading to droplet division, modeled by a modified Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equation with finite-time blow-up.

Contribution

It introduces a nonlinear longwave theory for the effective model of chemically active droplets, deriving a modified Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equation governing interface dynamics.

Findings

Interface governed by modified Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equation

Finite-time logarithmic blow-up of the interface

Derived expression for interface local velocity

Abstract

It has been suggested recently that growth and division of a protocell could be modeled by a chemically active droplet with simple chemical reactions driven by an external fuel supply. This model is called the continuum model. Indeed it's numerical simulation reveals a shape instability which results in droplet division into two smaller droplets of equal size resembling cell division [1]. In this paper, we investigate the reduced version of the continuum model, which is called the effective model. This model is studied both in the linear and nonlinear regime. First, we perform a linear stability analysis for the flat interface, and then we develop a nonlinear theory using the longwave approach. We find that the interface at the leading order is governed by the modified Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equation. Therefore the interface is subject to a logarithmic blow up after a finite time. In addition, an expression for the interface local velocity is obtained.