Complex nonlinear dynamics of area-preserving, active vesicles

Abstract

We investigate the nonlinear shape dynamics and autonomous propulsion of actively driven quasi-spherical vesicles with locally inextensible membranes at low Reynolds number. Starting from Stokes hydrodynamics, linearized membrane elasticity, and harmonic active forcing, we derive a reduced description in terms of spherical harmonic deformation modes. The global area constraint enforced by local inextensibility is the sole source of dynamic nonlinearity. It confines the dynamics to compact manifolds in the space of possible shapes. Autonomous propulsion arises through nonlinear mode coupling and is determined geometrically by the oriented area swept by the trajectories in shape space. For two active modes, the dynamics reduces to a periodically driven phase equation exhibiting synchronization, phase slips, and mode locking. Introducing a third active mode fundamentally changes the dynamics, giving rise to quasiperiodic invariant tori and resonant periodic cycles. A recurrence diagnostic reveals the resulting resonance structure, while fluctuations of the cycle-averaged propulsion provide an experimentally accessible signature of the underlying shape dynamics. Our results demonstrate that, for actively driven vesicles, a geometric constraint is sufficient to transform an otherwise linear dynamical system into one exhibiting rich nonlinear dynamics.