When a Flux Tube Reaches Its Maximum Size

Dr. Steven B Halls | December 2025

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

When a flux tube reaches it's maximum size and lets it's contents spill out (image A by a surrealist artist), quite often a new small flux tube arises (in symbolism). Arms in symbolism are usually referring to horizontal plane flow connections. These examples B, C and D have a flare at the wrists, and outflow spill beyond that point.

When a flux tube reaches its maximum size and spills its contents, a new small flux tube often arises. Arms are horizontal plane flow connections, so flared wrists with a spill beyond them, a curl that forms a vortex, and a bite-across a glove all point to constriction and immobilization. A flared glass tube by Remedios Varo shows transparency as higher density, and the sleeve fabric shows walls built of alternating tori.

Some of it curls up into a vortex and disappears like image B, but it also has a new small flux tube. Image C shows a blue smear but also a blue new small stream. Image E has a "bite-across" a glove, suggesting that image D is also about constriction and immobilization. Image F came to mind as a "theta pinch", but their experiment also put electrons into the flux stream, which shoot out one side for a plasma propulsion. This dog bite in image E is my first good clue about paintings where a glove is being gripped.

Image G is by Remedios Varo. The long slender glass tube (a flux tube/connection tube) is flared at each end. Transparency generally means higher-density. Image H is a closeup. The lower part of the container is a torus, the narrow neck going up is a connection of upward flow, but it has a downward flow at it's center. The face is the horizontal plane of the next torus above the lower one. Look at the sleeves fabric. Do you see ways that flux tube walls are structured with alternating symbols/alternating tori?