Here we introduce a new calculation method to find the domains of zero density of states for photonic band gap guiding fibers consisting of arrays of high refractive index strands in a low refractive index cladding. We find an analytic expression that associates any combination of geometric parameter, effective index, material and wavelength with a single binary function which allows direct determination whether the density of cladding states is zero or not. The method neither requires the

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... ally used root finding procedure for dispersion tracking nor simulation volume discretization. We verify the validity of our approach on well-established results and reveal as example that band gap regions are mainly determined by the two lowest order Bessel function orders. Our method allows for extensive parameter scans and evaluation of photonic band gap structures against structural and material inaccuracies with substantially reduced simulation effort.