Spectral methods have long been popular in direct and large eddy simulation of turbulent flows, but their use in areas with complex-geometry computational domains has historically been much more limited. More recently, the need to find accurate solutions to the viscous flow equations around complex configurations has led to the development of high-order discretization procedures on unstructured meshes, which are also recognized as more efficient for solution of time-dependent oscillatory solutions over long time periods. This book, an updated edition on the original text, presents the recent and significant progress in multi-domain spectral methods at both the fundamental and application level. Containing material on discontinuous Galerkin methods, non-tensorial nodal spectral element methods in simplex domains, and stabilization and filtering techniques, this text introduces the use of spectral/hp element methods with particular emphasis on their application to unstructured meshes. It provides a detailed explanation of the key concepts underlying the methods along with practical examples of their derivation and application.

Nektar++ is an open-source software framework designed to support the development of high-performance scalable solvers for partial differential equations using the spectral/hp element method. High-order methods are gaining prominence in several engineering and biomedical applications due to their improved accuracy over low-order techniques at reduced computational cost for a given number of degrees of freedom. However, their proliferation is often limited by their complexity, which makes these methods challenging to implement and use. Nektar++ is an initiative to overcome this limitation by encapsulating the mathematical complexities of the underlying method within an efficient C++ framework, making the techniques more accessible to the broader scientific and industrial communities. The software supports a variety of discretisation techniques and implementation strategies, supporting methods research as well as application-focused computation, and the multi-layered structure of the framework allows the user to embrace as much or as little of the complexity as they need. The libraries capture the mathematical constructs of spectral/hp element methods, while the associated collection of pre-written PDE solvers provides out-of-the-box application-level functionality and a template for users who wish to develop solutions for addressing questions in their own scientific domains.Program summaryProgram title: Nektar++Catalogue identifier: AEVV_v1_0Program summary URL:http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/summaries/AEVV_v1_0.htmlProgram obtainable from: CPC Program Library, Queen’s University, Belfast, N. IrelandLicensing provisions: MITNo. of lines in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 1052456No. of bytes in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 42851367Distribution format: tar.gzProgramming language: C++.Computer: Any PC workstation or cluster.Operating system: Linux/UNIX, OS X, Microsoft Windows.RAM: 512 MBClassification: 12.External routines: Boost, FFTW, MPI, BLAS, LAPACK and METIS (www.cs.umn.edu)Nature of problem:The Nektar++ framework is designed to enable the discretisation and solution of time-independent or time-dependent partial differential equations.Solution method:Spectral/hp element methodRunning time:The tests provided take a few minutes to run. Runtime in general depends on mesh size and total integration time

Low and oscillatory wall shear stress is widely assumed to play a key role in the initiation and development of atherosclerosis. Indeed, some studies have relied on the low shear theory when developing diagnostic and treatment strategies for cardiovascular disease. We wished to ascertain if this consensus is justified by published data. We performed a systematic review of papers that compare the localization of atherosclerotic lesions with the distribution of haemodynamic indicators calculated using computational fluid dynamics. The review showed that although many articles claim their results conform to the theory, it has been interpreted in different ways: a range of metrics has been used to characterize the distribution of disease, and they have been compared with a range of haemodynamic factors. Several studies, including all of those making systematic point-by-point comparisons of shear and disease, failed to find the expected relation. The various pre- and post-processing techniques used by different groups have reduced the range of shears over which correlations were sought, and in some cases are mutually incompatible. Finally, only a subset of the known patterns of disease has been investigated. The evidence for the low/oscillatory shear theory is less robust than commonly assumed. Longitudinal studies starting from the healthy state, or the collection of average flow metrics derived from large numbers of healthy vessels, both in conjunction with point-by-point comparisons using appropriate statistical techniques, will be necessary to improve our understanding of the relation between blood flow and atherogenesis.