ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Almost symplectic manifold

Okay little one, today we're going to learn about something called an almost symplectic manifold.

Think of it like a big playground where we can run around and climb on different structures, but instead of a playground, we have a space called a manifold. And instead of climbing structures, we have a special property called an almost symplectic structure.

An almost symplectic structure is like a set of rules that tell us how we can move around in this space. It's almost like a map, but instead of showing us where to go, it tells us how to move.

Now, when we say something is almost symplectic, it means that our rules are pretty close to being perfect, but not quite. It's like if we were playing a game of tag, and we almost tagged someone, but they got away at the last minute. We were really close, but not quite there.

In our almost symplectic manifold, we can move around in certain ways, but there are a few exceptions. These exceptions are like rules that we have to follow very carefully. We can't just move around however we want, we have to be very precise.

So that's what an almost symplectic manifold is, it's like a big playground with a set of rules that we have to follow very carefully, but not perfectly.