In mathematics, the spectral abscissa of a matrix or a bounded linear operator is the supremum among the real part of the elements in its spectrum, sometimes denoted as η ( A ) {displaystyle eta (A)} In mathematics, the spectral abscissa of a matrix or a bounded linear operator is the supremum among the real part of the elements in its spectrum, sometimes denoted as η ( A ) {displaystyle eta (A)} Let λ1, ..., λs be the (real or complex) eigenvalues of a matrix A ∈ Cn × n. Then its spectral abscissa is defined as: