what does X^ mean?

^ the proper name for this caret

(don't confuse it with a 'carrot' that a rabbit might eat or a 'carat' which is a unit of weight for gemstones)

However when used as a 'power of', exponent symbol it is called a 'hat'

4^3 means 4³ which means 4 x 4 x 4 = 64

 You have to have something after the ^ or id doesn't make sense.  

X^ means X to some exponent where X acts as the base. if X = 2, then we would have 2^ some power like 2^2 = 4, 2^3 = 8, or 2^0 = 1.