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We show how the spectrum of normal discrete short-range infinite-volume operators can be approximated with two-sided error control using only data from finite-sized local patches. As a corollary, we prove the computability of the spectrum of such infinite-volume operators with the additional property of finite local complexity and provide an explicit algorithm. Such operators appear in many applications, e.g. as discretizations of differential operators on unbounded domains or as so-called tight-binding Hamiltonians in solid state physics. For a large class of such operators, our result allows for the first time to establish computationally also the absence of spectrum, i.e. the existence and the size of spectral gaps. We extend our results to the $\varepsilon$-pseudospectrum of non-normal operators, proving that also the pseudospectrum of such operators is computable.

We present an algorithm for reliably and systematically proving the existence of spectral gaps in Hamiltonians with quasicrystalline order, based on numerical calculations on finite domains. We apply this algorithm to prove that the Hofstadter model on the Ammann-Beenker tiling of the plane has spectral gaps at certain energies, and we are able to prove the existence of a spectral gap where previous numerical results were inconclusive. Our algorithm is applicable to more general systems with finite local complexity and eventually finds all gaps, circumventing an earlier no-go theorem regarding the computability of spectral gaps for general Hamiltonians., Comment: paper + supplemental material