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Over the complex numbers, if $N^m=0$, thenHere the generalized binomial coefficient is $\left(\genfrac{}{}{0ex}{}{\alpha }{j}\right)=\alpha (\alpha -1)\cdots (\alpha -j+1)/j!$, with $\left(\genfrac{}{}{0ex}{}{\alpha }{0}\right)=1$. This is an exact finite identity, even when an infinite binomial series would not converge.

One can construct the required polynomial $q(z)=1+{\sum }_{j=1}^{m-1}{c}_j{z}^j$ without any infinite series. At polynomial degree $j$, the coefficient of $q(z{)}^3$ is $3c_j$ plus terms involving only earlier coefficients. Recursively choose it to agree with $1+z$ through polynomial degree $m-1$; the first coefficients are $1/3,-1/9,5/81$. The stated generalized binomial coefficients solve this recursion: near $z=0$, the binomial series for $(1+z{)}^{1/3}$ cubes to $1+z$, and truncating it changes no coefficient below polynomial degree $m$. Thus $q(z{)}^3-(1+z)$ is divisible by $z^m$ as a polynomial identity. Substituting the nilpotent matrix $N$ kills the remaining terms, all divisible by $N^m$. For a Jordan block $\lambda I+N$ with $\lambda \ne 0$, replace $N$ by $N/\lambda$ and multiply $Q$ by a scalar cube root of $\lambda$.

For $u_t=u_x+u_y$ with equal spatial mesh sizes, the centered leapfrog recurrence has amplification polynomial of a multilevel finite difference scheme $G^2-2i\mu (\sin \xi +\sin \eta )G-1$. Uniform stability for arbitrary two-level starting perturbations holds exactly for $0<\mu <1/2$. At $\mu =1/2$ the phase pair $(\pi /2,\pi /2)$ gives $(G-i{)}^2$, and its companion matrix has a nontrivial Jordan block, producing growth proportional to the number of steps. For larger $\mu$ one polynomial root has modulus greater than one. Bounds on eigenvalue moduli alone therefore give a misleading non-strict endpoint.

For a uniformly bounded two-level Fourier companion matrix $C(\theta )$ with distinct roots $g_1,g_2$ of modulus at most one, its powers satisfyA positive frequency-uniform gap therefore gives a uniform bound on every power. The Parseval identity then supplies spatial L2 norm stability. When the gap closes at a repeated unit root, a Jordan block can produce growth proportional to the number of steps despite both roots having modulus one.

For $U_m^{n+1}=(1-2\mu )(U_m^n-U_{m+1}^n)+U_{m+1}^{n-1}$, write an amplification root as $G=e^{i\theta /2}\lambda$. Its equation is ${\lambda }^2+2i(1-2\mu )\sin (\theta /2)\lambda -1=0$. The roots have modulus one and a positive frequency-uniform separation exactly for $0<\mu <1$, giving L2 norm stability through a uniformly bounded diagonalization. At either endpoint the Nyquist symbol has a repeated unit root and a Jordan block, producing linear growth. The normalized local truncation error is generally second order; at $\mu =1/2$ and $1$ exactly sampled characteristics solve the recurrence, although the latter parameter is unstable for arbitrary perturbations.

For a discrete dynamical system, eigenvalues of the linearization strictly inside the unit circle imply local asymptotic stability; an eigenvalue outside implies instability. Eigenvalues on the unit circle require more information. A nontrivial Jordan block there can already make the linearized iterates unbounded.

Even a bounded linearization leaves nonlinear stability undecided. The two displayed maps of the complex plane have the same derivative, a rotation matrix. Their radial updates are $r\mapsto r(1-r^2)$ and $r\mapsto r(1+r^2)$. For small positive radius, the first decreases to zero and the second moves out of every sufficiently small fixed neighborhood. Thus identical unit-modulus linear multipliers can accompany attraction or instability.