  The origin of magnetic fields in intermediate-mass and high-mass stars is
fundamentally a mystery. Clues toward solving this basic astrophysical problem
can likely be found at the pre-main sequence (PMS) evolutionary stage. With
this work, we perform the largest and most sensitive search for magnetic fields
in pre-main sequence Herbig Ae/Be (HAeBe) stars. Sixty-eight observations of 50
HAeBe stars have been obtained in circularly polarised light using the FORS1
spectropolarimeter at the ESO VLT. An analysis of both Balmer and metallic
lines reveals the possible presence of weak longitudinal magnetic fields in
photospheric lines of two HAeBe stars, HD 101412 and BF Ori. The intensity of
the longitudinal fields detected in HD 101412 and BF Ori suggest that they
correspond to globally-ordered magnetic fields with surface intensities of
order 1 kG. Monte Carlo simulations of the longitudinal field measurements of
the undetected stars allow us to place an upper limits of about 300 G on the
general presence of aligned magnetic dipole magnetic fields, and of about 500 G
on perpendicular dipole fields. We find that the observed bulk incidence of
magnetic HAeBe stars in our sample is 8-12%, in good agreement with that of
magnetic main sequence stars of similar masses. We also find that the rms
longitudinal field intensity of magnetically-detected HAeBe stars is similar to
that of Ap stars and consistent with magnetic flux conservation during stellar
evolution. These results are all in agreement with the hypothesis that the
magnetic fields of main sequence Ap/Bp stars are fossils, which already exist
within the stars at the pre-main sequence stage. Finally, we explore the
ability of our new magnetic data to constrain magnetospheric accretion in
Herbig Ae/Be stars.

Astrophysics