Polytrope

A polytrope is like a fancy way of talking about things that squish and move around. It's like imagining a big balloon that you can press on and change its shape, but instead of a balloon, we're talking about things in space like stars or planets.

Scientists use polytropes to study how these space things squish and move around. They use a special equation that helps them figure out how much pressure there is inside the thing and how squishy it is. This helps scientists understand how these things form and change over time.

So, a polytrope is really just a tool that helps scientists study how things in space move and change shape like a big squishy balloon, but with math!