Let . Multiplication of the radial equation by gives . With the constant terms cancel, leavingThe indicial equation is , with roots and . The usual physical Coulomb radial origin condition selects : it imposes the regular reduced radial boundary condition . Normalizability alone at the origin is insufficient to make this selection when an irregular branch is locally square-integrable, notably at .
Write . Coefficient comparison givesA nonterminating regular series has the exponentially growing asymptotic branch, suggested by : it supplies an component, which the prefactor cannot normalize. Equivalently the regular confluent-hypergeometric solution grows unless its first parameter is a nonpositive integer. Thus a bound state requires the numerator to vanish at some , givingThis is series-termination quantization of the Coulomb radial equation. It requires for the assumed ; at there are no such negative-energy Coulomb bound states.
For , . The angular integral cancels when computing , while the radial volume element contributes . ConsequentlyThe ratio follows by one integration by parts and remains valid for real ; no integer-only factorial identity is needed. Since now ,For a classical particle with that negative total energy, nonnegative kinetic energy requires , hence . This is a necessary radial bound; extra angular momentum can impose a stronger restriction.
At , and the classical boundary is . The normalized radial probability density is . With , the exterior quantum probability isThe final integration gives . This is the nonzero quantum tail beyond the classical turning region.
Apply the Frobenius method at the origin. The lowest power in is , with coefficientThe terms and start at power and therefore cannot cancel a nonzero coefficient. Because , the indicial equation isIts roots are and . Since , their leading behaviors are respectively and . The physical choice isThis is the Coulomb radial origin condition. For , the other branch is not even locally normalizable: its radial probability integral behaves as , which diverges.
For , the singular behavior is locally square-integrable with the measure , so local wavefunction normalization alone would not reject it. The ordinary three-dimensional Coulomb potential problem additionally requires the regular boundary condition . A branch violates that condition and has divergent kinetic energy integral . Thus it is excluded from the physical energy domain as well. The regular choice gives in every case.