spherical cow

noun

spherical cow

noun

1

Humorous A highly simplified scientific model of a complex real-life phenomenon.

[…] something of a "spherical cow" approximation of dark matter.Csaba Csaki (ed.), Scott Dodelson (ed.), Physics of the Large and the Small: TASI 09, Proceedings of the Theoretical Advanced Study Institute in Elementary Particle Physics (page 405)

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