arXiv subjects

Valentina-Mira Wheeler

Publications and source records attributed to Valentina-Mira Wheeler.

27 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2018

Rigidity and stability of spheres in the Helfrich model

The Helfrich functional, denoted by H^{c_0}, is a mathematical expression proposed by Helfrich (1973) for the natural free energy carried by an elastic phospholipid bilayer. Helfrich theorises that idealised elastic phospholipid bilayers minimise H^{c_0} among all possible configurations. The functional integrates a spontaneous curvature parameter c_0 together with the mean curvature of the bilayer and constraints on area and volume, either through an inclusion of osmotic pressure difference and tensile stress or otherwise. Using the mathematical concept of embedded orientable surface to represent the configuration of the bilayer, one might expect to be able to adapt methods from differential geometry and the calculus of variations to perform a fine analysis of bilayer configurations in terms of the parameters that it depends upon. In this article we focus upon the case of spherical red blood cells with a view to better understanding spherocytes and spherocytosis. We provide a complete classification of spherical solutions in terms of the parameters in the Helfrich model. We additionally present some further analysis on the rigidity and stability of spherocytes.

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arXiv2018

Closed ideal planar curves

In this paper we use a gradient flow to deform closed planar curves to curves with least variation of geodesic curvature in the $L^2$ sense. Given a smooth initial curve we show that the solution to the flow exists for all time and, provided the length of the evolving curve remains bounded, smoothly converges to a multiply-covered circle. Moreover, we show that curves in any homotopy class with initially small $L^3\lVert k_s\rVert_2^2$ enjoy a uniform length bound under the flow, yielding the convergence result in these cases.

math.DG↗

arXiv2018

On a curvature flow model for embryonic epidermal wound healing

The paper studies a curvature flow linked to the physical phenomenon of wound closure. Under the flow we show that a closed, initially convex or close-to-convex curve shrinks to a round point in finite time. We also study the singularity, showing that the singularity profile after continuous rescaling is that of a circle. We additionally give a maximal time estimate, with an application to the classification of blowups.

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arXiv2017

Minimal hypersurfaces in the ball with free boundary

In this note we use the strong maximum principle and integral estimates prove two results on minimal hypersurfaces $F:M^n\rightarrow\mathbb{R}^{n+1}$ with free boundary on the standard unit sphere. First we show that if $F$ is graphical with respect to any Killing field, then $F(M^n)$ is a flat disk. This result is independent of the topology or number or boundaries. Second, if $M^n = \mathbb{D}^n$ is a disk, we show the supremum of the curvature squared on the interior is bounded below by $n$ times the infimum of the curvature squared on the boundary. These may be combined the give an impression of the curvature of non-flat minimal hyperdisks with free boundary.

math.DG↗

arXiv2016

Mean curvature flow with free boundary in embedded cylinders or cones and uniqueness results for minimal hypersurfaces

In this paper we study the mean curvature flow of embedded disks with free boundary on an embedded cylinder or generalised cone of revolution, called the support hypersurface. We determine regions of the interior of the support hypersurface such that initial data is driven to a curvature singularity in finite time or exists for all time and converges to a minimal disk. We further classify the type of the singularity. We additionally present applications of these results to the uniqueness problem for minimal hypersurfaces with free boundary on such suppport hypersurfaces; the results obtained this way do not require a-priori any symmetry or topological restrictions.

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arXiv2016

Mean curvature flow with free boundary - Type 2 singularities

In this paper we give sufficient conditions that guarantee the meancurvature flow with free boundary on an embedded rotationally symmetric double cone develops a Type 2 curvature singularity. We additionally prove that Type 0 singularities may only occur at infinity.

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arXiv2015

The shrinking figure eight and other solitons for the curve diffusion flow

In this article we investigate the dynamics of special solutions to the surface diffusion flow of idealised ribbons. This equation reduces to studying the curve diffusion flow for the profile curve of the ribbon. We provide: (1) a complete classification of stationary solutions; (2) qualitative results on shrinkers, translators, and rotators; and (3) an explicit parametrisation of a shrinking figure eight curve.

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arXiv2014

Mean curvature flow with free boundary outside a hypersphere

The purpose of this paper is twofold: firstly, to establish sufficient conditions under which the mean curvature flow supported on a hypersphere with exterior Dirichlet boundary exists globally in time and converges to a minimal surface, and secondly, to illustrate the application of Killing vector fields in the preservation of graphicality for the mean curvature flow with free boundary. To this end we focus on the mean curvature flow of a topological annulus with inner boundary meeting a standard n-sphere in \R^{n+1} perpendicularly and outer boundary fixed to an (n-1)-sphere with radius R>1 at a fixed height h. We call this the \emph{sphere problem}. Our work is set in the context of graphical mean curvature flow with either symmetry or mean concavity/convexity restrictions. For rotationally symmetric initial data we obtain, depending on the exact configuration of the initial graph, either long time existence and convergence to a minimal hypersurface with boundary or the development of a finite-time curvature singularity. With reflectively symmetric initial data we are able to use Killing vector fields to preserve graphicality of the flow and uniformly bound the mean curvature pointwise along the flow. Finally we prove that the mean curvature flow of an initially mean concave/convex graphical surface exists globally in time and converges to a piece of a minimal surface.

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arXiv2013

Willmore flow of surfaces in Riemannian spaces I: Concentration-compactness

In this paper we study the local regularity of closed surfaces immersed in a Riemannian 3-manifold flowing by Willmore flow. We establish a pair of concentration-compactness alternatives for the flow, giving a lower bound on the maximal time of existence of the flow proportional to the concentration of the curvature and area at initial time. The estimate from the first theorem is purely in terms of the concentration of curvature at initial time but applies only to ambient spaces with non-positive sectional curvature. The second requires additional information on the concentration of area at initial time but applies in more general background spaces. Applications of these results shall appear in forthcoming work.

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