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Equation 4 · Part 1 · Variational Evolution: How Quantum Computers Learn Their Answers

Symbol p

p=1p=1
pp

What this part means

increased [ 2 ].

Its job in the formula

p is part of the quantity the equation computes from the expression on the right.

Where the article explains it

For MaxCut on 3-regular graphs at the shallowest depth ( p=1 ), they proved the algorithm returns a cut at least 0.6924 times the size of the true optimum — a specific, checkable guarantee rather than a promise of “quantum speedup” in the abstract, and one that improves as the depth parameter p is increased [ 2 ] .

The passage around this formula

…the algorithm returns a cut at least 0.6924 times the size of the true optimum — a specific, checkable guarantee rather than a promise of “quantum speedup” in the abstract, and one that improves as the depth parameter p is increased [ 2 ] .

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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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