Rotational distortion of polytropes by analytic approximation

This paper modifies the first-order perturbation theory of Chandrasekhar, for rotational distortion of polytropes. Comparison with numerical integrations by other authors demonstrates that the present analytic theory is as accurate as other published first-order theories. The present theory is in a form permitting rapid calculation of boundary shapes as a function of the rotation parameter, v, and the polytrope index, n. Results are presented for a critically rotating polytrope, for the case n=3. (Auth.)