Nonlinear evolution of helical magnetorotational instability

We investigate the evolution of the helical magnetorotational instability in a magnetized Taylor-Couette flow from its linear growth to nonlinear saturation using numerical simulations. We show that the saturation occurs through modification (reduction) of the radial shear of the mean azimuthal velocity. The resulting saturated state is axisymmetric and represents a type of 2D MHD turbulence, whose (spectral) properties are characterized. The results are compared to the PROMISE experiment data.