Redukce

Redukce is a Czech noun that denotes the act or process of reducing something: a decrease in amount, size, extent, or intensity. The term comes from Latin reducere and is used across various fields to describe a lowering or simplification. In general language, redukce can refer to lowering costs, emissions, energy consumption, or other measurable quantities.

In science, reduction has specific technical meanings. In chemistry, reduction is a redox process in which a substance gains electrons. It is the opposite of oxidation. Reductions are central to many industrial and organic reactions, such as hydrogenation, where a substrate gains hydrogen, and metal refining, where oxides are reduced to metals. In physics and related disciplines, the word may also describe the reduction of dimensionality or complexity in models and measurements.

In mathematics and computer science, reduction refers to transforming one problem into another in a way that preserves solvability. This concept is used to compare the computational difficulty of problems, with explicit examples including many-one reductions and Turing reductions. Polynomial-time reductions are particularly important in complexity theory to classify problems such as NP-hardness.

In economics and retail, redukce is used to describe a price reduction or discount offered to customers. Stores may advertise reductions on products during sales events or promotions, often as a temporary decrease in price.

In linguistics, reduction can describe the simplification or shortening of sounds in speech, such as the weakening of vowels or syllables in unstressed positions.