In process mining, a "variant" is a fundamental concept used for analysis. It represents a unique sequence of activities (events) that a case follows from its start to its end. An event log contains data for many individual cases, and all cases that traverse the exact same path through the process are grouped together into a single variant. This allows analysts to identify common process flows (the "happy path"), discover deviations, and analyze the frequency and performance of different execution paths.

A. This describes an event log or a digital trace, which is the raw data input for process mining, not the variant itself.

B. This more accurately describes a process model or a process map, which aims to visualize the overall structure of a process, not a specific path.

C. This describes a technique or an action (backtracking) that might be used in analysis, but it is not the definition of a variant.

1. SAP Help Portal - SAP Signavio Process Intelligence: In the official documentation for SAP Signavio Process Intelligence

a variant is explicitly defined: "A variant is a unique path from the beginning to the end of a process. All cases that have the exact same sequence of activities belong to the same variant."

Source: SAP Help Portal

SAP Signavio Process Intelligence

"Working with variants".

2. van der Aalst

W. M. P. (2016). Process Mining: Data Science in Action. Springer. This foundational academic textbook on process mining defines the concept. A "trace" is the sequence of events for one case. Variants are groups of identical traces.

Source: Chapter 4

"Process Discovery

" Section 4.2

"Dealing with Infrequent Behavior

" p. 118. The text explains that process discovery algorithms often focus on the most frequent variants to create a simplified model.

3. Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) Courseware: In the MOOC "Process Mining: Data Science in Action

" the concept is introduced early on.

Source: Week 1

"Introduction to Process Mining

" Video: "Event Data." The lecture explains that an event log consists of cases

and each case has a trace. Variants are then introduced as unique traces found in the log.