This paper deals with the stability analysis of an axially symmetric liquid metal flow driven by a rotating magnetic field in a cylinder of finite dimensions. The limit of linear stability with respect to axially symmetric perturbations is found for diameter-to-height ratios between 0.4 and 1. This oscillatory instability is shown to be different from the expected Taylor–Görtler vortices. Several linearly unstable steady solutions are found close to the stable basic state. It is shown that small finite-amplitude perturbations in the form of Taylor–Görtler vortices give rise to instability in the linearly stable regime.

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We consider the magnetorotational instability (MRI) of a hydrodynamically stable Taylor-Couette flow with a helical external magnetic field in the inductionless approximation defined by a zero magnetic Prandtl number (Pm=0) . This leads to a considerable simplification of the problem eventually containing only hydrodynamic variables. First, we point out that magnetic field adds more dissipation while it does not change the base flow which is the only source of energy for growing perturbations. Thus, it seems unclear from the energetic point of view how such a hydrodynamically stable flow can turn unstable in the presence of a helical magnetic field as it has been found recently by Hollerbach and Rüdiger [Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 124501 (2005)]. We revisit this problem by using a Chebyshev collocation method to calculate the eigenvalue spectrum of the linearized problem. In this way, we confirm that a helical magnetic field can indeed destabilize the flow in the inductionless approximation. Second, we integrate the linearized equations in time to study the transient behavior of small amplitude perturbations, thus showing that the energy arguments are correct as well. However, there is no real contradiction between both facts. The linear stability theory predicts the asymptotic development of an arbitrary small-amplitude perturbation, while the energy stability theory yields the instant growth rate of any particular perturbation, but it does not account for the evolution of this perturbation. Thus, although switching on the magnetic field instantly increases the energy decay rate of the dominating hydrodynamic perturbation, in the same time this perturbation ceases to be an eigenmode in the presence of the magnetic field. Consequently, this perturbation is transformed with time and so becomes able to extract energy from the base flow necessary for the growth.

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