Love number
Parameters describing a planet's rigidity / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Love numbers (h, k, and l) are dimensionless parameters that measure the rigidity of a planetary body or other gravitating object, and the susceptibility of its shape to change in response to an external tidal potential.
In 1909, Augustus Edward Hough Love introduced the values h and k which characterize the overall elastic response of the Earth to the tides ― Earth tides or body tides.[1] Later, in 1912, Toshi Shida added a third Love number, l, which was needed to obtain a complete overall description of the solid Earth's response to the tides.[2]