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For $[a,a^{†}]=1$, the occupation number operator $a^{†}a$ has eigenvalues $0,1,2,\dots$ on the bosonic oscillator Fock space.

For $\{f,f^{†}{\}}_{+}=1$ and $f^2=0$, the occupation number operator $f^{†}f$ has eigenvalues zero and one. This gives the single-mode exclusion principle.

A spin-$S$ Hilbert space has dimension $2S+1$. Its Holstein–Primakoff transformation therefore uses only bosonic occupation numbers $0,1,\dots ,2S$. The square root annihilates the upper endpoint. A truncated linear spin-wave approximation formally enlarges this space; it is self-consistent only when boson depletion is small compared with $S$.

Use the Holstein–Primakoff transformation on the physical occupation number subspace $0\le n\le 2S$. With the canonical commutation relation $[a,a^{†}]=1$, the ordered square root givesBoth endpoints are respected: $S^{+}|0⟩=0$ and $S^{-}|2S⟩=0$. Consequently,Since these Fock states form a basis of the physical spin space, $[S^{+},S^{-}]=2S^z$ there. Similarly $[S^z,S^{\pm }]=\pm S^{\pm }$. The Holstein–Primakoff occupation constraint is essential: unrestricted bosonic occupation would not represent a spin-$S$ Hilbert space.

The linear spin-wave approximation expands about the rotated all-up state, with ${\hat{n}}_n=a_n^{†}{a}_n$:In the longitudinal product, $S_n^z{S}_{n+1}^z=S^2-S({\hat{n}}_n+{\hat{n}}_{n+1})+O(S^0)$. Each site belongs to two bonds, so the resulting quadratic Hamiltonian isThe omitted terms are of order $S^0$ at fixed small occupation number. The pair terms describe the quantum fluctuations that were missing from the classical Néel state.

For a linear spin-wave approximation, the ground state is empty of the diagonal quasiparticles but contains the original spin bosons. If $a_k=u_k{\alpha }_k-v_k{\alpha }_{-k}^{†}$, their occupation number is $v_k^2$. The staggered magnetization is reduced from $S$ to $S-N^{-1}{\sum }_k{v}_k^2$. For the one-dimensional nearest-neighbor Heisenberg antiferromagnet, $v_k^2=(|\sin k{|}^{-1}-1)/2$ and the integral diverges logarithmically. This invalidates finite ordered magnetization within the approximation; it is not itself a determination of the exact spectral gap.