Finite-box ground-energy convention in Bose condensation ($\mu \to E_0^{-}$)

A hard-wall cube has positive one-particle ground energy $E_0=3{\pi }^2{\hslash }^2/(2m{L}^2)$. Condensation corresponds to the absolute chemical potential approaching $E_0$, not zero. Shifting the energy reference makes the limiting chemical potential zero, while the exact shifted excited-state density of states also shifts. Keeping its bulk square-root form is a large-system approximation valid when $k_{B}T\gg E_0$. A periodic cube instead has zero ground energy.