electric helix

[gohan]

As a welder I have seen the electric arc twist into material and liquefy said material. Can anyone explain?

[jjohnson]

Hi, Helix,
Twisting in an electric current in plasma can occur at any scale (not in condensed metal conductors themselves at wire scales, likely, but in flexible plasma filaments, yes). Would it be possible for you to make a short video through welding glass to give us a record of your observation? It sounds really interesting, and would be fun to compare the shapes with larger scale cosmic phenomena like planetary nebulas.

[Osmosis]

Does anyone have access to a sputtering chamber? The Birkeland currents should show up in a plasma, if the pressure and input current can be fiddled with. I have to try this with my arc welder, anyway.