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Equation 4 · Part 1 · The Network Is the Computer Again

Symbol α

α\alpha
α\alpha

What this part means

the writing.

Its job in the formula

α is a part of this expression. Its role is fixed by the surrounding article and by the operations shown in the formula.

Where the article explains it

Writing α\alpha for latency per message, β\beta for transfer time per byte and γ\gamma for reduction time per byte, the cost of a collective over p participants on n bytes takes the shape

The passage around this formula

The classical accounting for a collective operation separates three terms: a per-message latency, a per-byte transfer cost, and a per-byte computation cost for reductions [ 2 ] . Writing α\alpha for latency per message, β\beta for transfer time per byte and γ\gamma for reduction time per byte, the cost of a collective over p participants on n bytes takes the shape

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Learn the underlying idea

A variable is a named place for a value. Its letter is a local label: x can mean position in one formula and a data point in another.

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Sources cited in the surrounding passage

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