# Coarse-Grained Methods for Heterogeneous Vesicles with Phase-Separated Domains: Elastic Mechanics of Shape Fluctuations, Plate Compression, and Channel Insertion

## TL;DR

This paper introduces coarse-grained particle methods to study the elastic mechanics of heterogeneous vesicles with phase-separated domains, analyzing their shape fluctuations, response to compression, and channel insertion.

## Contribution

It develops new simulation and analysis techniques for heterogeneous vesicles, capturing effects of phase separation and thermal fluctuations on their mechanics.

## Key findings

- Heterogeneity amplifies surface correlations.
- Reduced resistance during vesicle compression.
- Increased transport times in narrow channels.

## Abstract

We develop coarse-grained particle approaches for studying the elastic mechanics of vesicles with heterogeneous membranes having phase-separated domains. We perform simulations both of passive shape fluctuations and of active systems where vesicles are subjected to compression between two plates or subjected to insertion into narrow channels. Analysis methods are developed for mapping particle configurations to continuum fields with spherical harmonics representations. Heterogeneous vesicles are found to exhibit rich behaviors where the heterogeneity can amplify surface two-point correlations, reduce resistance during compression, and augment vesicle transport times in channels. The developed methods provide general approaches for characterizing the mechanics of coarse-grained heterogeneous systems taking into account the roles of thermal fluctuations, geometry, and phase separation.