Emden-Chandrasekhar axisymmetric, solid-body rotating polytropes. Pt. 1

The basic theory on polytropes is revisited and EC polytropes are defined. The first-order approximation theory of Chandrasekhar (1933a, b, c) and Chandrasekhar and Lebovitz (1962) is reviewed, refined and extended in such a way that better results are obtained without involving hard analytical or numerical techniques. A more precise equation is given in defining non-outer equipotential surfaces, and a new method is adopted in determining the explicit expression of the gravitational potential. (orig./WL)