Controller for internal combustion engine

A controller for an internal combustion engine, the internal combustion engine including a fuel injection valve configured to supply fuel into a plurality of cylinders and swirl control valves provided in the respective cylinders, the controller comprising

• an electronic control unit configured to
• i) acquire an actual heat generation rate at a time of combustion, and
• ii) correct at least one of a fuel injection pressure or an amount of fuel injected when a deviation amount between a reference heat generation rate gradient and an actual heat generation rate gradient is equal to or greater than a predetermined value such that the deviation amount decreases, iii) obtain, for the respective cylinders, deviation timings at which the deviation amounts between the reference heat generation rate gradient and the actual heat generation rate gradient become equal to or greater than the predetermined value when the deviation amounts between the reference heat generation rate gradient and the actual heat generation rate gradient are equal to or greater than the predetermined value, and
• iv) correct at least one of openings of the swirl control valves such that the deviation timings of the respective cylinders become the same timing,
• the reference heat generation rate gradient being a gradient of a predetermined reference heat generation rate at which a predetermined time elapses after a heat generation rate begins to rise, and
• the actual heat generation rate gradient being a gradient of an actual heat generation rate acquired by the electronic control unit at which the predetermined time elapses after the heat generation rate begins to rise.