Robert V. Kohn

Kohn has developed important new techniques in the Calculus of Variations and Partial Differential Equations, motivated by challenges from a broad range of application areas. In the calculus of variations, problems from optimal design, phase transition, shape-memory materials, and the wrinkling of thin sheets have led to a rich body of work on energy-driven pattern formation. In  partial differential equations, challenges involving inverse problems, singularity development, and energy-driven coarsening have motivated deep results including a dynamical-systems-based approach to the analysis of blowup, an interpolation-based approach to coarsening rates a fresh perspective on discrete motion by curvature.