One of the most frequently asked questions when performing almost any scientific computation is: how do I make my simulation faster? Or, equivalently, why is my simulation running so slowly?
The spectral element method is no exception to this rule. The purpose of this chapter is to highlight some of the easiest parameters that can be tuned to attain optimum performance for a given simulation.
Details are kept as untechnical as possible, but some background information on the underlying numerical methods is necessary in order to understand the various options available and the implications that they can have on your simulation.