INFINITE SPHERICAL WELL - SPHERICAL BESSEL

FUNCTIONS

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References: Griffiths, David J. (2005), Introduction to Quantum Mechan-
ics, 2nd Edition; Pearson Education - Section 4.1.3 & Problem 4.7.
Post date: 7 Jan 2013.
The solution of the 3-d Schrödinger equation for a radial potential splits
into two parts; one involving spherical harmonics that is independent of the
potential, and the other being the radial equation, which does. The radial
equation has the general form
!
h̄2 d2 u h̄2 l(l + 1)
− + V+ u = Eu (1)
2m dr2 2m r2

where u (r) = rR (r), and the wave function is Ψ(r, θφ) = R (r) Ylm (θ, φ).
The radial equation is usually not solvable in terms of standard functions,
but one special case is that of the infinite spherical well. It is a spherical
equivalent of the infinite square well, in that its potential is
(
0 r<a
V (r) = (2)
∞ r>a
For r > a, we must have Ψ = 0, and for r < a, we can write the radial
equation as

h̄2 d2 u h̄2 l(l + 1)

− + u = Eu (3)
2m dr2 2m r2
d2 u
 
l(l + 1)
2
− 2
− k2 u = 0 (4)
dr r

where
√
2mE
k≡ (5)
h̄
It turns out that the general solution of this equation for arbitrary k in-
volves spherical Bessel functions, (denoted by jl (r) and nl (r)) which are
defined as solutions of the differential equation
1
 INFINITE SPHERICAL WELL - SPHERICAL BESSEL FUNCTIONS 2

d2 y dy  2
x2

+ 2x + x − n(n + 1) y=0 (6)
dx2 dx
Clearly these two differential equations aren’t the same, so the solutions
to our problem aren’t straight Bessel functions, but if we try the solution

u = rjl (kr) (7)

in our ODE, we get

   
d d l(l + 1) 2
jl (kr) + r jl (kr) − r − k jl (kr) = 0 (8)
dr dr r2
d2
 
d l(l + 1) 2
2 jl (kr) + r 2 jl (kr) − r − k jl (kr) = 0 (9)
dr dr r2
d2 d
r2 2 jl (kr) + 2r jl (kr) − l (l + 1) − k 2 r2 jl (kr) = 0


(10)
dr dr
If we let x = kr we get

d2 d
x2 jl (x) + 2x jl (x) + x2 − l (l + 1) jl (x) = 0


2
(11)
dx dx

which is exactly the Bessel ODE above. The same derivation works for the
other spherical Bessel function nl , so the general solution is

u (r) = Arjl (kr) + Brnl (kr) (12)

The nl are sometimes called spherical Neumann functions.
The two types of spherical Bessel function can also be written as deriva-
tives:

1 d l sin x

l
jl (x) = (−x) (13)
x dx x
 l
1 d cos x
nl (x) = − (−x)l (14)
x dx x
A note of caution is needed here. If you look up Bessel functions (say, in
wikipedia) you’ll discover that there are a bewildering number of different
types. The solutions of the radial equation here are specifically spherical
Bessel functions, and not ’ordinary’ Bessel functions of the first, second or
third kind, nor are they Hankel functions. This is especially important to
 INFINITE SPHERICAL WELL - SPHERICAL BESSEL FUNCTIONS 3

remember if you are looking up solutions in mathematical tables (or, more

likely these days, using software to find the solutions).
The first two spherical Neumann functions can be found from the deriv-
ative formula:

1 d cos x
n1 (x) = − (−x) (15)
x dx x
−x sin x − cos x
= (16)
x2
d −x sin x − cos x
n2 (x) = −x (17)
dx x3
−x3 (x cos x) + 3x2 (x sin x + cos x)
= −x (18)
x6
x2 cos x − 3x sin x − 3 cos x
= (19)
x3
As x → 0, sin x → x and cos x → 1 so n1 (x) → −(x2 + 1)/x2 , which
blows up. Also, n2 (x) → −(2x2 + 3)/x3 which also blows up.
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