On spurious solutions in finite element approximations of resonances in open systems

In this paper, we discuss problems arising when computing resonances with a finite element method. In the pre-asymptotic regime, we detect for the one dimensional case, spurious solutions in finite element computations of resonances when the computational domain is truncated with a perfectly matched layer (PML) as well as with a Dirichlet-to-Neumann map (DtN). The new test is based on the Lippmann–Schwinger equation and we use computations of the pseudospectrum to show that this is a suitable choice. Numerical simulations indicate that the presented test can distinguish between spurious eigenvalues and true eigenvalues also in difficult cases.