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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 August 2015
Equilibria of rigidly rotating polytropic gas with small compressibilities are computed in order to investigate the relation between the incompressible and compressible equilibria. The equilibrium figure varies from a spheroid-like shape to a concave hamburger as the angular velocity increases. This result is supported by the fact that a concave hamburger equilibrium is obtained even in the complete incompressible case. Thus the Maclaurin spheroid does not represent the incompressible limit of the rotating polytropic gas because of its restriction of the figure. The computed sequence of equilibria clarifies the relation between the Maclaurin spheroid and the Dyson-Wong toroid. Moreover it is the sequence of minimum-energy configuration. These results suggest that our solutions are more physical and probably stabler than any other equilibrium of incompressible fluids.