Diagram of angles and geometries used in subsequent simulations.

<p>Visualization of the geometries and computational meshes used throughout this study. A: Shown here is an example of the relevant geometry and angle definitions that will be used in later analysis. The green ellipse is meant to symbolize the active Cdc42 polarization cap. The vector <i>c</i> is drawn from an origin on the x-axis through the center of the polarization cap and the vector <i>p</i> is the projection of <i>c</i> onto the xy-plane. The angle <i>θ</i> is defined in the usual way in spherical coordinates and is the angle from the z-axis to the vector <i>c</i> and is between 0 and 180 degrees. The angle <i>ϕ</i> is defined as between the x-axis and <i>p</i> and is between 0 and 360 degrees. In this way we can quantify the position of the polarization cap. B: The four computational meshes that will be used throughout this study. They are meant to represent yeast mating projections at different stages of formation. To solve for these shapes, a mechanics solver from [<a href="http://www.ploscompbiol.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1006241#pcbi.1006241.ref034" target="_blank">34</a>] was used.