  We analyze the linear growth of the magnetorotational instability (MRI) in
the short time limit using nonmodal methods. Our findings are quite different
to standard results, illustrating that shearing wave energy can grow at the
maximum MRI rate, $-d\Omega/d \ln r,$ for any choice of azimuthal and vertical
wavelengths. In addition, by comparing the growth of shearing waves with static
structures, we show that over short time-scales shearing waves will always be
dynamically more important than static structures in the ideal limit. By
demonstrating that fast linear growth is possible at all wavelengths, these
results suggest that nonmodal linear physics could play a fundamental role in
MRI turbulence.
