Lange, MichaelMitchell, LawrenceKnepley, Matthew G.Gorman, Gerard J.2017-02-222017-02-222016Lange, Michael, Mitchell, Lawrence, Knepley, Matthew G., et al.. "Efficient mesh management in Firedrake using PETSc-DMPlex." <i>SIAM Journal on Scientific Computing,</i> 38, no. 5 (2016) Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics: S143-S155. http://dx.doi.org/10.1137/15M1026092.https://hdl.handle.net/1911/93964The use of composable abstractions allows the application of new and established algorithms to a wide range of problems, while automatically inheriting the benefits of well-known performance optimizations. This work highlights the composition of the PETSc DMPlex domain topology abstraction with the Firedrake automated finite element system to create a PDE solving environment that combines expressiveness, flexibility, and high performance. We describe how Firedrake utilizes DMPlex to provide the indirection maps required for finite element assembly, while supporting various mesh input formats and runtime domain decomposition. In particular, we describe how DMPlex and its accompanying data structures allow the generic creation of user-defined discretizations, while utilizing data layout optimizations that improve cache coherency and ensure overlapped communication during assembly computation.engArticle is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.Journal articlehttp://dx.doi.org/10.1137/15M1026092