Polhode

A polhode is a concept in the field of dynamical systems, particularly in the study of rigid body motion. It refers to the center of mass trajectory of a rigid body rotating about a fixed point, which describes a path on the surface of a sphere. In more technical terms, the polhode is the curve traced out by the point representing the orientation of the body when the body is subjected to external forces and torques, while its angular momentum is kept constant.