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Equation 10 · Part 8 · The Economics, Energy, and Physical Limits of Tool Protocols and the Model Context Protocol

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B(k)=Δ∑i=1ki=Δ k(k+1)2.B(k) = \Delta \sum_{i=1}^{k} i = \Delta\,\frac{k(k+1)}{2}.
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What this part means

Capital delta attached to a quantity marks a difference between two values of that quantity; the article’s sign convention determines the order.

Its job in the formula

Capital delta attached to a quantity marks a difference between two values of that quantity; the article’s sign convention determines the order.

The passage around this formula

Model it simply. Suppose a session runs for k turns, and each turn adds on average Δ\Delta tokens of new tool result to a transcript that is resent in full on every request, because nothing is evicting or compressing it. The tokens billed on turn i include roughly iΔ\Delta tokens of accumulated result history, so the total billed across the whole session is B(k)=Δ∑i=1ki=Δ k(k+1)2B(k) = \Delta \sum_{i=1}^{k} i = \Delta\,\frac{k(k+1)}{2}. Doubling the length of a session does not double the bill; it roughly quadruples it, because the earlier results are being paid for again on every one of the later turns. This is not a hypothetical — it is the direct arithmetic consequence of the same design choice OpenAI documents for its own tool schemas: whatever is…

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Learn the underlying idea

Addition combines quantities; subtraction measures the signed difference between them. Parentheses show what is combined before the rest of the expression is evaluated.

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Sources cited in the surrounding passage

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