For small fixed positive , the stated approximate curve has maxima at
Its formal minima are zero at . The peak height is the -wave unitarity limit, and the peaks narrow as decreases.
To identify the bound-state threshold, let the bound-state energy be with . The reduced radial wave is proportional to inside and outside, with and . Matching gives . As a new bound state emerges at ,
Thus the limiting peak locations coincide with the appearance of successive -wave bound states. At the exact threshold the zero-energy radial solution is not square-integrable; a normalizable bound state appears just beyond it. Finite-energy maxima shift slightly from the zero-energy positions.
The formal minima require care because the assumption used in part d fails there. Retaining in the exact matching condition gives the spherical square-well scattering length
away from a threshold. At , , so the true low-energy S-wave scattering contribution is , not zero. Genuine leading-order zeros of that contribution instead satisfy , for example and . The original sketch compares the exact finite-energy wave with the requested approximation, making this nonuniformity visible. Dominance by the wave must be checked separately near a higher-partial-wave threshold. The scattering-length divergence and its bound-state interpretation are also derived in institutional lecture notes.[ref]
For binding energy , match the inner reduced radial wave to an outer decaying exponential. The resulting equation is , with and . A bound level reaches zero energy when . These are divergences of the spherical square-well scattering length. The exact zero-energy threshold wave is not square-integrable; a normalizable bound state appears on the more attractive side.