← All parts of this equation

Equation 8 · Part 5 · OpenAI Model Systems from First Principles: Weights, Post-Training, and Inference Compute

subscript

Cpre≈6ND,C_{\mathrm{pre}} \approx 6 N D,
subscript

What this part means

The lower label selects a particular version, component, or indexed member of the quantity. For example, x₀ and xₜ can be values at different positions.

Its job in the formula

A subscript distinguishes a version, component, step, or member of a quantity. It does not automatically mean multiplication.

The passage around this formula

Pretraining compute for a dense transformer is well approximated by Cpre≈6NDC_{\mathrm{pre}} \approx 6 N D. with N parameters and D training tokens, the factor of six counting the forward and backward passes. Empirically, test loss falls as a power law in each of parameters, data, and compute over many orders of magnitude, a relationship first characterised systematically by Kaplan and colleagues [ 5 ] . The important structural feature is the functional form: a term of the shape

Read this part in the article →

Learn the underlying idea

A subscript is a label attached below a symbol. It often selects a time step, component, category, or member of a sequence.

Open the illustrated subscripts: which member of a family? guide →

Sources cited in the surrounding passage

These citations provide research context; check each source for the exact claim it supports.