Phase separation on surfaces in presence of matter exchange

TL;DR

This paper introduces a field theory model for surface composition with matter exchange, revealing how exchange rates influence pattern formation and domain size, providing insights into cellular membrane heterogeneity.

Contribution

It develops a novel theoretical framework and combines analytical and numerical methods to explain surface patterning due to matter exchange.

Findings

Patterned surface compositions depend on exchange rates.

Coarsening is arrested, leading to characteristic domain sizes.

Heterogeneous lipid distributions in membranes can be explained physically.

Abstract

We present a field theory to describe the composition of a surface spontaneously exchanging matter with its bulk environment. By only assuming matter conservation in the system, we show with extensive numerical simulations that, depending on the matter exchange rates, a complex patterned composition distribution emerges in the surface. For one-dimensional systems we show analytically and numerically that coarsening is arrested and as a consequence domains have a characteristic length scale. Our results show that the causes of heterogeneous lipid composition in cellular membranes may be justified in simple physical terms.