Summary We present an introduction to the spectral element method, which provides an innovative numerical approach to the calculation of synthetic seismograms in 3‐D earth models. The method combines the flexibility of a finite element method with the accuracy of a spectral method. One uses a weak formulation of the equations of motion, which are solved on a mesh of hexahedral elements that is adapted to the free surface and to the main internal discontinuities of the model. The wavefield on the elements is discretized using high‐degree Lagrange interpolants, and integration over an element is accomplished based upon the Gauss–Lobatto–Legendre integration rule. This combination of discretization and integration results in a diagonal mass matrix, which greatly simplifies the algorithm. We illustrate the great potential of the method by comparing it to a discrete wavenumber/reflectivity method for layer‐cake models. Both body and surface waves are accurately represented, and the method can handle point force as well as moment tensor sources. For a model with very steep surface topography we successfully benchmark the method against an approximate boundary technique. For a homogeneous medium with strong attenuation we obtain excellent agreement with the analytical solution for a point force.

Summary We use a spectral‐element method to simulate seismic wave propagation throughout the entire globe. The method is based upon a weak formulation of the equations of motion and combines the flexibility of a finite‐element method with the accuracy of a global pseudospectral method. The finite‐element mesh honours all first‐ and second‐order discontinuities in the earth model. To maintain a relatively constant resolution throughout the model in terms of the number of grid points per wavelength, the size of the elements is increased with depth in a conforming fashion, thus retaining a diagonal mass matrix. In the Earth's mantle and inner core we solve the wave equation in terms of displacement, whereas in the liquid outer core we use a formulation based upon a scalar potential. The three domains are matched at the inner core and core–mantle boundaries, honouring the continuity of traction and the normal component of velocity. The effects of attenuation and anisotropy are fully incorporated. The method is implemented on a parallel computer using a message passing technique. We benchmark spectral‐element synthetic seismograms against normal‐mode synthetics for a spherically symmetric reference model. The two methods are in excellent agreement for all body‐ and surface‐wave arrivals with periods greater than about 20 s.

The perfectly matched layer (PML) absorbing boundary condition has proven to be very efficient from a numerical point of view for the elastic wave equation to absorb both body waves with nongrazing incidence and surface waves. However, at grazing incidence the classical discrete PML method suffers from large spurious reflections that make it less efficient for instance in the case of very thin mesh slices, in the case of sources located close to the edge of the mesh, and/or in the case of receivers located at very large offset. We demonstrate how to improve the PML at grazing incidence for the differential seismic wave equation based on an unsplit convolution technique. The improved PML has a cost that is similar in terms of memory storage to that of the classical PML. We illustrate the efficiency of this improved convolutional PML based on numerical benchmarks using a finite-difference method on a thin mesh slice for an isotropic material and show that results are significantly improved compared with the classical PML technique. We also show that, as the classical PML, the convolutional technique is intrinsically unstable in the case of some anisotropic materials.