Numerical analysis for a system coupling curve evolution attached orthogonally to a fixed boundary, to a reaction-diffusion equation on the curve

Abstract: We consider a semi-discrete finite element approximation for a system consisting of the evolution of a planar curve evolving by forced curve shortening flow inside a given bounded domain $\Omega \subset \mathbb{R}^2$, such that the curve meets the boundary $\partial \Omega$ orthogonally, and the forcing is a function of the solution of a reaction-diffusion equation that holds on the evolving curve. We prove optimal error bounds for the resulting approximation and present numerical experiments.