Curvature-driven pattern formation in biomembranes: A gradient flow approach
Authors
- Knopf, Patrik
- Pešić, Anastasija
- Trautwein, Dennis
2020 Mathematics Subject Classification
- 35A01 35A02 35A15 35K61 92-10 74K15
Keywords
- Cahn--Hilliard, biomembranes, coupled system, pattern formation, gradient flow
DOI
Abstract
In this work, we study a phase-field model for curvature-driven pattern formation in biomembranes. The model is derived as a gradient flow of an energy functional that approximates the two-phase Canham--Helfrich energy. This leads to a Cahn--Hilliard-type equation with cross diffusion for the relative chemical concentration of one lipid phase, coupled to a fourth-order reaction-diffusion equation describing the height profile of the membrane. We first prove the existence of weak solutions for the case of regular double-well potentials, using a minimizing movement scheme to construct approximate solutions. The analysis is then extended to singular potentials, e.g., the Flory--Huggins potential, by approximating them with a Moreau--Yosida regularization. For both cases, we establish higher regularity, continuous dependence on the initial data, and consequently the uniqueness of weak solutions. Finally, we propose a well-posed finite element discretization of the model and present numerical experiments illustrating the effect of different physical parameters on the resulting membrane patterns. Depending on the parameter regime, we observe purely striped, dotted, or snake-like structures.
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