Maximum growth rate of ideal magnetorotational instability ($s_{\max }=q\Omega /2,{\omega }_{A,\max }^2=q(4-q){\Omega }^2/4$)

For local cylindrical shear $q=-d\ln \Omega /d\ln r$ with $0<q<2$, maximizing the positive squared-growth root of the ideal magnetorotational dispersion relation gives the displayed formulas. For a Keplerian disk these are $s_{\max }=3\Omega /4$ and ${\omega }_A^2=15{\Omega }^2/16$. Field strength selects the fastest wavelength, while the maximum ideal rate is set by shear. Finite domains and magnetic diffusion can exclude that wavelength.