I have a question regarding operator theory and would be glad if someone could help. I have a linear operator $A$ that is non-self-adjoint, unbounded and is densely defined in a Hilbert space $H$. I know how the spectrum of this operator looks like. However, not all points of the spectrum are eigenvalues. Given a point in the spectrum $\lambda_j$ (in my case $\lambda_j \in \mathbb{R}$), is there a way to check, if this point is an eigenvalue in the mathematical meaning of this word, i.e., that there exist a function $\varphi_j \in H$ such that $A\varphi_j = \lambda_j\varphi_j$?
Of course, the operator $A$ is given explicitly, i.e., I know how the corresponding linear prescription looks like.