ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Maurer–Cartan form

Okay kiddo, have you ever played with compasses and drawn circles? The Maurer-Cartan form is like a compass for mathematicians who study shapes that can be twisted and turned in different ways, just like you can twist and turn paper to fold it into different shapes.

Now imagine you're drawing a circle, but instead of using a normal compass, you use a special one that can measure the angles between points on the circle. This is kind of like what the Maurer-Cartan form does - it measures how much a shape is twisted and turned.

But instead of just measuring circles, the Maurer-Cartan form can work with really complicated shapes that have lots of twists and turns. It helps mathematicians understand how these shapes are put together and how they can be deformed or moved around.

It might sound a bit confusing, but just think of it like using a really cool compass to draw complicated shapes and figure out how they fit together.