A Phase-Field Model for Vesicle Membranes Incorporating Area-Difference Elasticity

TL;DR

This paper introduces a phase-field model for simulating 3D vesicle membrane deformations, incorporating area-difference elasticity, and demonstrates its ability to reproduce diverse vesicle shapes through efficient numerical methods.

Contribution

The paper develops a novel phase-field model with area-difference elasticity and efficient spectral numerical schemes for simulating vesicle shape transformations.

Findings

Model captures a wide variety of vesicle shapes.

Tuning parameters induces shape transitions.

Highlights importance of area-difference elasticity.

Abstract

This paper presents a phase-field model for simulating the three-dimensional deformation of vesicle membranes, incorporating area-difference elasticity, with constraints on bulk volume and surface area. We develop efficient numerical schemes based on the Fourier-spectral method for spatial discretization and temporal evolution. The model successfully captures a wide variety of steady-state vesicle shapes. The numerical experiments demonstrate that by tuning the simulation parameters, the vesicle can transition from a simple discocyte shape to a complex, multi-armed starfish-like and nested configuration. These results highlight the crucial role of area-difference elasticity in determining vesicle morphology.