Editing Reduction (mathematics) (section)

==Algebra==
In [[linear algebra]], ''reduction'' refers to applying simple rules to a series of [[equation]]s or [[matrix (mathematics)|matrices]] to change them into a simpler form. In the case of matrices, the process involves manipulating either the rows or the columns of the matrix and so is usually referred to as ''row-reduction'' or ''column-reduction'', respectively.  Often the aim of reduction is to transform a matrix into its "row-reduced [[echelon form]]" or "row-echelon form"; this is the goal of [[Gaussian elimination]].