Evolution of magnetic fields in stars across the upper main sequence

Abstract

To properly understand the physics of upper main sequence stars it is particularly important to identify the origin of their magnetic fields. Recently, we confirmed that magnetic fields appear in Ap stars of mass below 3 M_sun only if they have already completed at least approximately 30% of their main-sequence lifetime. The absence of stars with strong magnetic fields close to the ZAMS might be seen as an argument against the fossil field theories. Here we present the results of our recent magnetic survey with FORS1 at the VLT in polarimetric mode of a sample of A, B and Herbig Ae stars with previously undetected magnetic fields and briefly discuss their significance for our understanding of the origin of the magnetic fields in intermediate mass stars.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, to appear in "Magnetic Fields in the Universe: From Laboratory and Stars to Primordial Structures", AIP Conference Proceedings 78