Weakly nonlinear dynamics of a chemically active particle near the threshold for spontaneous motion. I. Adjoint method

Abstract: In this Series, we study the weakly nonlinear dynamics of chemically active particles near the threshold for spontaneous motion. In this part, we focus on steady solutions and develop an `adjoint method' for deriving the nonlinear amplitude equation governing the particle's velocity, first assuming the canonical model in the literature of an isotropic chemically active particle and then considering general perturbations about that model. As in previous works, the amplitude equation is obtained from a solvability condition on the inhomogeneous problem at second order of a particle-scale weakly nonlinear expansion, the formulation of that problem involving asymptotic matching with a leading-order solution in a remote region where advection and diffusion are balanced. We develop a generalised solvability condition based on a Fredholm Alternative argument, which entails identifying the adjoint linear operator at the threshold and calculating its kernel. This circumvents the apparent need in earlier theories to solve the second-order inhomogeneous problem, resulting in considerable simplification and adding insight by making it possible to treat a wide range of perturbation scenarios on a common basis. To illustrate our approach, we derive and solve amplitude equations for a number of perturbation scenarios (external force and torque fields, non-uniform surface properties, first-order surface kinetics and bulk absorption), demonstrating that sufficiently near the threshold weak perturbations can appreciably modify and enrich the landscape of steady solutions.