Graduate Power series in quantum mechanics

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The discussion revolves around the application of the power series method to solve the infinite square well problem in quantum mechanics. The user notes that their solution for the wave function, expressed as a power series, does not yield the expected quantized energy levels. They highlight the importance of boundary conditions in achieving quantization, which seems absent in their derived solution. The user questions the role of the boundaries of the infinite well in their calculations, indicating a potential misunderstanding or oversight in applying the power series method. Clarifying the boundary conditions is essential for correctly determining the quantized energies in this context.
gremory
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Power series to solving the infinite square well
Just earlier today i was practicing solving some ODEs with the power series method and when i did it to the infinite square well i noticed that my final answer for ##\psi(x)## wouldn't give me the quantised energies. My solution was
$$\psi(x) = \sum^{\infty}_{n=0} k^{2n}(\cos(x) + \sin(x))$$, with ##k = \frac{\sqrt{2mE}}{\hbar}##. I want to know what's the catch when doing this because we need the boundary conditions to quantize the energies and with this solution i don't see how i would get that.
 
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\psi(x) = \sum^{\infty}_{n=0} k^{2n}(\cos(x) + \sin(x))=(\cos(x) + \sin(x)) \sum^{\infty}_{n=0} k^{2n}=\psi(x,k)

so something seems wrong. Where are the edges of infinite well ?
 
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Insights auto threads is broken atm, so I'm manually creating these for new Insight articles. Towards the end of the first lecture for the Qiskit Global Summer School 2025, Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, Olivia Lanes (Global Lead, Content and Education IBM) stated... Source: https://www.physicsforums.com/insights/quantum-entanglement-is-a-kinematic-fact-not-a-dynamical-effect/ by @RUTA

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