To All the Flux Tubes I've Loved Before

Dr. Steven B Halls | December 2025

This material was originally posted to Facebook on 2025-12-24 - view original post.

To all the flux tubes I've loved before... I'm glad they came along, I dedicate this song... (and to girls too, thinking of you, in the nicest way). Over the years I've used words like "flow", and then "connection tubes", and now I'm changing to "flux tubes", because certain things are quite common about them.

A look back at the words used over the years, from flow to connection tubes and now flux tubes, because certain things are common to them. They gradually change from thin to thick and end with a spill, fire, fruit, leafy curls or spreading out, with walls built from even tinier symbols and an inflation then deflation mechanism, often with a spiral build, matching modern magnetohydrodynamics.

A gradual change from thin to thick, ending with some spill, fire, fruit, leafy curls, expansion, spreading-out, etc. Tube walls/barrier made with even tinier symbols compared to the dots or swirling vortices inside the flowing flux tubes. An often seen inflation and then deflation mechanism in the art. Quite often a spiral/helical build to the flux tube walls. There is awesome correspondence to modern magnetohydrodynamics, once your brain says "OK, symbolism has flux tubes and energy flow".

Or, if your brain sees just: torch, columns, vines, unicorn, snakes and art decorations, that was me in the past. Changing my perceptions, to see this diversity as a single simple pattern, it's been an amazing journey so far. Thanks for coming along with me. I know it's a lot, a lot, I hope it's getting easier.

2025 was a great year for rediscovery. Merry Christmas to all, and to all religions, we can share a unified understanding in the future and feel good about getting there.

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