For local cold magnetocentrifugal acceleration, the field must guide the gas and enforce approximate corotation with its disk footpoint in the sub-Alfvénic launching region. Let that footpoint be , and keep its field-line angular velocity constant along the field. In this rotating frame the relevant effective potential is
The footpoint is a critical point because and . The meridional Hessian matrix there is
Take distance along a smooth outward magnetic field line whose initial tangent is in the plane. Since the gradient of vanishes at the footpoint, field-line curvature does not contribute to its second derivative. Consequently
A negative quadratic coefficient gives a downhill displacement and acceleration without thermal assistance. The magnetocentrifugal launching criterion in a flattened power-law potential is therefore
Angles are measured from the vertical, with . Below the critical angle the footpoint is a local minimum along the field, so a cold particle cannot cross the initial potential barrier. At equality the quadratic test is marginal; higher derivatives and the unspecified field curvature can decide the outcome. The threshold is a local condition for launch, not proof that the wind escapes along an arbitrary global field geometry. The spherical point-mass limit , recovers , consistent with Ogilvie's discussion of cold disk winds, section 9.9.