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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 July 2013
The magnetorotational instability (MRI) of thin, vertically-isothermal Keplerian discs, under the influence of an axial magnetic field is investigated near the instability threshold. The nonlinear interaction of Alfven-Coriolis (MRI) modes with stable magnetoacoustic waves is considered. The transition of the Alfven-Coriolis modes to instability occurs when the linearized system has zero eigenvalue of multiplicity two. As a result the nonlinear ordinary differential equation that describes the evolution of the amplitude of the MRI mode near the threshold is of second order. Solutions of that amplitude equation reveal that the MRI is saturated to bursty periodical oscillations due to the transfer of energy to the stable magnetosonic modes.