Nonlocally-induced (fractional) bound states: Shape analysis in the infinite Cauchy well

Fractional (L'{e}vy-type) operators are known to be spatially nonlocal. This becomes an issue if confronted with a priori imposed exterior Dirichlet boundary data. We address spectral properties of the prototype example of the Cauchy operator $(-\mathrm{\Delta }{)}^{1\mathrm{/}2}$ in the interval $D=(-1,1)\subset R$, with a focus on functional shapes of lowest eigenfunctions and their fall-off at the boundaries of $D$. New high accuracy formulas are deduced for approximate eigenfunctions. We analyze how their shape reproduction fidelity is correlated with the evaluation finesse of the corresponding eigenvalues.