Appendix 1—figure 3. Stability analysis.

(A) Change in dimensionless arc length $\dot{l}$ for a range of spanning distances δ as a function of $l$ for $l_m=2$. For small spanning distances there are two steady states. The one at lower $l$ is stable, while the other one is unstable. For increasing δ the system approaches a saddle-node distribution, beyond which both steady states vanish and the length of the peripheral arc increases indefinitely. (B) $\dot{l}$ For a range of l_m and spanning distance $\delta =1$. Again the two fixed points vanish in a saddle node bifurcation.