Bending energy of a vesicle to which a small spherical particle adhere: An analytical study

On the basis of Helfrich's bending energy model, we show that the adsorption process of a small spherical particle to a closed vesicle can be analytically studied by retaining the leading terms in an expansion of the shape equation. Our general derivation predicts the optimal binding sites on a vesicle, where the local membrane shape of the binding site could be non-axisymmetric before the continuous adhesion transition takes place. Our derivation avoids directly solving the shape equation and depends on an integration of the contact-line condition. The results are verified by several examples of independent numerical solutions.