Figure 1. The asymmetric well is a box of length L with its left-hand edge placed at the origin. The wave function is set to zero outside the infinite boundaries.

For a particle in an infinite square well with its left-hand edge at the origin (see Figure 1.), the potential $V(x)$ is defined as

\[ V(x) = \begin{cases}0, \textrm{ if } 0 \leq x \leq L \tag{1} \label{Eq:V=0}\\ \infty, \textrm{ otherwise} \end{cases} \]

Once again, the wave function $\Psi(x)$ outside the well is set to zero with

\[ \Psi(x) = 0 \text { when } x<0 \text{ or } x>L \]

In order to have $\Psi(x)$ remain continuous, the Dirichlet boundary conditions are set as

\[ \Psi(0)=\Psi(L) = 0 \notag \]

No restriction for continuity is made on $d \Psi(x)/dx $ at the boundary.1

In the majority of introductory textbooks2, the general solution to the Time-Independent Schrodinger equation for the potential given by Eq.$\eqref{Eq:V=0}$ is given as

\[ \Psi(x) = A \cos kx + B \sin kx \qquad A,B \in \mathbb{R} \]

with

\[ k=\sqrt{\frac{2mE}{\hbar^2}} \tag{2} \label{Eq:k} \]

Applying the boundary condition $\Psi(0)=0$ eliminates the constant $A$ which leaves

\[ \Psi(x) = B \sin kx \notag \]

In order for $\Psi(L)=0$,

\[ kL = n \pi \]

thereby giving

\[ k_{n} = \frac{n \pi}{L}, \text{ with } n=1,2,3, \dots \]

From Eq.$\eqref{Eq:k}$, the energy E is quantized as

\[ E_{n} =\frac{n^{2} \pi ^{2} \hbar^{2}}{2mL^{2}} \label{Eq:E1} \]

The constant $B$ is found by normalizing $\Psi(x)$ as

\[ \int_{0}^{L} \Big | \Psi(x) \Big |^2 dx = 1 \notag \]

which gives

\[ B= \sqrt{\frac{2}{L}} \notag \]

Finally, the wave solution for the particle in the infinite square well is given by

\[ \Psi_{n}(x) = \sqrt {\frac{2}{L}} \sin \Big( \frac{n \pi}{L}x \Big ) \qquad n= \pm 1, \pm 2, \pm 3, \dots \label{Eq:StdSolution} \]

  1. See David Griffiths, Introduction to Quantum Mechanics. 2nd Edition. Pearson. 2005 pg. 31-32. Also Stephen Gasiorowicz, The Structure of Matter: A Survey of Modern Physics. Addison-Wesley. 1979. pgs. 193-195. []
  2. See Nourendine Zettili, Quantum Mechanics – Concepts and Applications. 2nd Edition. Wiley. 2009. pgs. 231-234. Also David Griffiths, Introduction to Quantum Mechanics. 2nd Edition. Pearson. 2005 pg. 31-32. []