On an Eigenvalue Property of Summation-By-Parts Operators

Summation-By-Parts (SBP) methods provide a systematic way of constructing provably stable numerical schemes. However, many proofs of convergence and accuracy rely on the assumption that the SBP operator possesses a particular eigenvalue property. In this note, three results pertaining to this property are proven. Firstly, the eigenvalue property does not hold for all nullspace consistent SBP operators. Secondly, this issue can be addressed without affecting the accuracy of the method by adding a specially designed, arbitrarily small perturbation term to the SBP operator. Thirdly, all pseudospectral methods satisfy the eigenvalue property.