doi:10.3934/cpaa.2005.4.537          Full text: (1560.4K)

Qiang Du - Department of Mathematics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA, United States (email)

Chun Liu - Department of Mathematics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, United States (email)

R. Ryham - Department of Mathematics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, United States (email)

X. Wang - Department of Mathematics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, United States (email)

Abstract: In this paper, we study the effects of the spontaneous curvature on the static deformation of a vesicle membrane under the elastic bending energy, with prescribed bulk volume and surface area. Generalizing the phase field models developed in our previous works, we deduce a new energy formula involving the spontaneous curvature effects. Several axis-symmetric configurations are obtained through numerical simulations. Some analysis on the effects of the spontaneous curvature on the vesicle membrane shapes are also provided.

Keywords: Phase field, elastic bending energy, cell embrane, spontaneous curvature, numerical simulation, solution branches.
Mathematics Subject Classification: 49Q10, 92B05, 74K15.

Received:  November   2004
Revised:   April  2005
Published: June  2005

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