During the last years, scientific computing has become an important research branch located between applied mathematics and applied sciences and engineering. Highly efficient numerical methods are based on adaptive methods, higher order discretizations, fast linear and non-linear iterative solvers, multi-level algorithms, etc. Such methods are integrated in the adaptive finite element software ALBERTA. It is a toolbox for the fast and flexible implementation of efficient software for real life applications, based on modern algorithms. ALBERTA also serves as an environment for improving existent, or developing new numerical methods in an interplay with mathematical analysis and it allows the direct integration of such new or improved methods in existing simulation software.

This book is a collection of lecture notes for the CIME course on "Multiscale and Adaptivity: Modeling, Numerics and Applications," held in Cetraro (Italy), in July 2009. Complex systems arise in several physical, chemical, and biological processes, in which length and time scales may span several orders of magnitude. Traditionally, scientists have focused on methods that are particularly applicable in only one regime, and knowledge of the system on one scale has been transferred to another scale only indirectly. Even with modern computer power, the complexity of such systems precludes their being treated directly with traditional tools, and new mathematical and computational instruments have had to be developed to tackle such problems. The outstanding and internationally renowned lecturers, coming from different areas of Applied Mathematics, have themselves contributed in an essential way to the development of the theory and techniques that constituted the subjects of the courses.

The book of invited articles offers a collection of high-quality papers in selected and highly topical areas of Applied and Numerical Mathematics and Approximation Theory which have some connection to Wolfgang Dahmen's scientific work. On the occasion of his 60th birthday, leading experts have contributed survey and research papers in the areas of Nonlinear Approximation Theory, Numerical Analysis of Partial Differential and Integral Equations, Computer-Aided Geometric Design, and Learning Theory. The main focus and common theme of all the articles in this volume is the mathematics building the foundation for most efficient numerical algorithms for simulating complex phenomena.

This book constitutes the proceedings of the 17th European MPI User's Group Meeting on Recent Advances in the Message Passing Interface held in Stuttgart in September 2010.

During the last years, scientific computing has become an important research branch located between applied mathematics and applied sciences and engineering. Highly efficient numerical methods are based on adaptive methods, higher order discretizations, fast linear and non-linear iterative solvers, multi-level algorithms, etc. Such methods are integrated in the adaptive finite element software ALBERTA. It is a toolbox for the fast and flexible implementation of efficient software for real life applications, based on modern algorithms. ALBERTA also serves as an environment for improving existent, or developing new numerical methods in an interplay with mathematical analysis and it allows the direct integration of such new or improved methods in existing simulation software.