Phillip A. Griffiths

My research has largely centered on the study of partial differential equations by geometric methods, especially the theory of exterior differential systems. Much of this has focused on attempting to understand classical concepts and methods from partial differential equations, such as the characteristic variety or the calculus of variations in a more geometric setting. Specific applications have been given to some long standing questions such as the isometric embedding problem. More recently, together with collaborators, my research has returned to questions in algebraic geometry, especially the long standing issue of algebraic cycles.