Computing absolute and essential spectra using continuation (Q2370658)

A continuation approach to the computation of essential and absolute spectra of differential operators on the real line is presented. The advantages of this approach are the efficient and accurate computation of selected parts of the spectrum (typically those near the imaginary axis) and the option to compute nonlinear travelling waves and selected eigenvalues or other stability indicators simultaneously in order to locate accurately the onset to instability. The implementation and usage with the software package AUTO is discussed and example computations for the Fitzhugh-Nagumo and the complex Ginzburg-Landau equations are presented.