Geometry of T1 transitions in epithelia

The flows of tissues of epithelial cells often involve T1 transitions. These neighbor exchanges are irreversible rearrangements crossing an energy barrier. Here, by an exact geometric construction, I determine this energy barrier for general, isolated T1 transitions dominated by line tensions. I show how deviations from regular cell packing reduce this energy barrier, but find that line tension fluctuations increase it on average. By another exact construction, I prove that the nonlinear tensions in vertex models of tissues also resist T1 transitions. My results thus form the basis for coarse-grained understanding of cell neighbor exchanges for continuum descriptions of epithelia.