Modelling and simulations of multi-component lipid membranes and open membranes via diffuse interface approaches

Diffuse interface (phase field) models are developed for multi-component vesicle membranes with different lipid compositions and membranes with free boundary. These models are used to simulate the deformation of membranes under the elastic bending energy and the line tension energy with prescribed volume and surface area constraints. By comparing our numerical simulations with recent biological experiments, it is demonstrated that the diffuse interface models can effectively capture the rich phenomena associated with the multi-component vesicle transformation and thus offering great functionality in their simulation and modelling.