  An efficient way of solving 2D stability problems in fluid mechanics is to
use, after discretization of the equations that cast the problem in the form of
a generalized eigenvalue problem, the incomplete Arnoldi-Chebyshev method. This
method preserves the banded structure sparsity of matrices of the algebraic
eigenvalue problem and thus decreases memory use and CPU-time consumption.
  The errors that affect computed eigenvalues and eigenvectors are due to the
truncation in the discretization and to finite precision in the computation of
the discretized problem. In this paper we analyze those two errors and the
interplay between them. We use as a test case the two-dimensional eigenvalue
problem yielded by the computation of inertial modes in a spherical shell. This
problem contains many difficulties that make it a very good test case. It turns
out that that single modes (especially most-damped modes i.e. with high spatial
frequency) can be very sensitive to round-off errors, even when apparently good
spectral convergence is achieved. The influence of round-off errors is analyzed
using the spectral portrait technique and by comparison of double precision and
extended precision computations. Through the analysis we give practical recipes
to control the truncation and round-off errors on eigenvalues and eigenvectors.
