Infinite potential well with a sinusoidal bottom

Abstract

We construct a tridiagonal matrix representation of the wave operator that maps the wave equation into a three-term recursion relation for the expansion coefficients of the wavefunction. Finding a solution of the recursion relation is equivalent to solving the original problem. Consequently, a larger class of solvable potentials is obtained. The usual diagonal representation constraint results in a reduction to the conventional class of solvable potentials. To exhibit the power of this approach, we give an exact solution for the infinite potential well with sinusoidal bottom.