Elastic bending energy: a variational approach

DOI10.7546/JGSP-45-2017-1-45zbMATH Open1386.74023arXiv1709.04399OpenAlexW2962790270MaRDI QIDQ1707433FDOQ1707433

Authors: Riccardo Capovilla 

Publication date: 29 March 2018

Published in: Journal of Geometry and Symmetry in Physics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: Geometric continuum models for fluid lipid membranes are considered using classical field theory, within a covariant variational approach. The approach is cast as a higher-derivative Lagrangian formulation of continuum classical field theory, and it can be seen as a covariant version of the field theoretical variational approach that uses the height representation. This novel Lagrangian formulation is presented first for a generic reparametrization invariant geometric model, deriving its equilibrium condition equation, or shape equation, and its linear and angular stress tensors, using the classical Canham-Helfrich elastic bending energy for illustration. The robustness of the formulation is established by extending it to the presence of external forces, and to the case of heterogenous lipid membranes, breaking reparametrization invariance. In addition, a useful and compact general expression for the second variation of the free energy is obtained within the Lagrangian formulation, as a first step towards the study of the stability of membrane configurations. The simple structure of the expressions derived for the basic entities that appear in the mechanics of a lipid membrane is a direct consequence of the well established power of a Lagrangian variational approach. The paper is self-contained, and it is meant to provide, besides a new framework, also a convenient introduction to the mechanics of lipid membranes.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/1709.04399

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zbMATH Keywords

variational methodbendingLagrangian field theoryHelfrich model

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

PDEs in connection with fluid mechanics (35Q35) Variational methods applied to PDEs (35A15) Pattern formations in context of PDEs (35B36) PDEs in connection with mechanics of deformable solids (35Q74) Minimal surfaces in differential geometry, surfaces with prescribed mean curvature (53A10) Lagrangian formalism and Hamiltonian formalism in mechanics of particles and systems (70S05) Nonlinear elasticity (74B20) Biomechanics (92C10)

Cited In (12)

• On the variation of curvature functionals in a space form with application to a generalized Willmore energy
• A gauge-fixing procedure for spherical fluid membranes and application to computations
• A PDE approach to the existence and regularity of surfaces of minimum mean curvature variation
• Variable tilt on lipid membranes
• The role of mechanics in the study of lipid bilayers. Lecture notes based on the presentations at the summer school, Udine, Italy, July 11--15, 2016
• Some observations on variational elasticity and its application to plates and membranes
• Derivation of a new free energy for biological membranes
• A discussion on the mechanics of lipid membranes: Lagrange multipliers and a singular substrate
• A continuous energy-based immersed boundary method for elastic shells
• Energy functionals from conformal gravity
• The Canham-Helfrich model for the elasticity biomembranes as a limit of mesoscopic energiess
• Holographic relationships in Lovelock type brane gravity

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