Aims. We investigated a sample of 28 well-known spectroscopically-identified magnetic Ap/Bp stars, with weak, poorly-determined or previously undetected magnetic fields. The aim of this study is to explore the weak part of the magnetic field distribution of Ap/Bp stars. Methods. Using the MuSiCoS and NARVAL spectropolarimeters at Télescope Bernard Lyot (Observatoire du Pic du Midi, France) and the cross-correlation technique Least Squares Deconvolution (LSD), we obtained 282 LSD Stokes V signatures of our 28 sample stars, in order to detect the magnetic field and to infer its longitudinal component with high precision (median σ = 40 G). Results. For the 28 studied stars, we obtained 27 detections of Stokes V Zeeman signatures from the MuSiCoS observations. Detection of the Stokes V signature of the 28th star (HD 32650) was obtained during science demonstration time of the new NARVAL spectropolarimeter at Pic du Midi. This result clearly shows that when observed with sufficient precision, all firmly classified Ap/Bp stars show detectable surface magnetic fields. Furthermore, all detected magnetic fields correspond to longitudinal fields which are significantly greater than some tens of G. To better characterise the surface magnetic field intensities and geometries of the sample, we phased the longitudinal field measurements of each star using new and previously-published rotational periods, and modeled them to infer the dipolar field intensity (B d , measured at the magnetic pole) and the magnetic obliquity (β). The distribution of derived dipole strengths for these stars exhibits a plateau at about 1 kG, falling off to larger and smaller field strengths. Remarkably, in this sample of stars selected for their presumably weak magnetic fields, we find only 2 stars for which the derived dipole strength is weaker than 300 G. We interpret this "magnetic threshold" as a critical value necessary for the stability of large-scale magnetic fields, and develop a simple quantitative model that is able to approximately reproduce the observed threshold characteristics. This scenario leads to a natural explanation of the small fraction of intermediate-mass magnetic stars. It may also explain the near-absence of magnetic fields in more massive B and O-type stars.

Context. During the last decade, the FORS1 instrument of the ESO Very Large Telescope has been extensively used to study stellar magnetism. A number of interesting discoveries of magnetic fields in several classes of stars have been announced, many of which obtained at a ∼3σ level; some of the discoveries are confirmed by measurements obtained with other instruments, some are not. Aims. We investigate the reasons for the discrepancies between the results obtained with FORS1 and those obtained with other instruments. Methods. Using the ESO FORS pipeline, we have developed a semi-automatic procedure for magnetic field determination. We have applied this procedure to the full content of circular spectropolarimetric measurements of the FORS1 archive (except for most of the observations obtained in multi-object spectropolarimetric mode). We have devised and applied a number of consistency checks to our field determinations, and we have compared our results to those previously published in the literature. Results. We find that for high signal-to-noise ratio measurements, photon noise does not account for the full error bars. We discuss how field measurements depend on the specific algorithm adopted for data reduction, and we show that very small instrument flexures, negligible in most of the instrument applications, may be responsible for some spurious field detections in the null profiles. Finally, we find that we are unable to reproduce some results previously published in the literature. Consequently, we do not confirm some important discoveries of magnetic fields obtained with FORS1 and reported in previous publications. Conclusions. Our revised field measurements show that there is no contradiction between the results obtained with the low-resolution spectropolarimeter FORS1 and those obtained with high-resolution spectropolarimeters. FORS1 is an instrument capable of performing reliable magnetic field measurements, provided that the various sources of uncertainties are properly taken into account.

Context. The photospheres of about 5-10% of the upper main sequence stars exhibit remarkable chemical anomalies. Many of these chemically peculiar (CP) stars have a global magnetic field, the origin of which is still a matter of debate. Aims. We present a comprehensive statistical investigation of the evolution of magnetic CP stars, aimed at providing constraints to the theories that deal with the origin of the magnetic field in these stars. Methods. We have collected from the literature data for 150 magnetic CP stars with accurate Hipparcos parallaxes. We have retrieved from the ESO archive 142 FORS1 observations of circularly polarized spectra for 100 stars. From these spectra we have measured the mean longitudinal magnetic field, and discovered 48 new magnetic CP stars (five of which belonging to the rare class of rapidly oscillating Ap stars). We have determined effective temperature and luminosity, then mass and position in the H-R diagram for a final sample of 194 magnetic CP stars. Results. We found that magnetic stars with M > 3 M are homogeneously distributed along the main sequence. Instead, there are statistical indications that lower mass stars (especially those with M ≤ 2 M ) tend to concentrate in the centre of the main sequence band. We show that this inhomogeneous age distribution cannot be attributed to the effects of random errors and small number statistics. Our data suggest also that the surface magnetic flux of CP stars increases with stellar age and mass, and correlates with the rotation period. For stars with M > 3 M , rotation periods decrease with age in a way consistent with the conservation of the angular momentum, while for less massive magnetic CP stars an angular momentum loss cannot be ruled out. Conclusions. The mechanism that originates and sustains the magnetic field in the upper main sequence stars may be different in CP stars of different mass.

Nighttime polarimetric measurements are often obtained very close to the limits of the instrumental capabilities. It is important to be aware of the possible sources of spurious polarization, and to adopt data reduction techniques that best compensate for the instrumental effects intrinsic to the design of the most common polarimeters adopted for nighttime observations. We define a self-consistent framework starting from the basic definitions of the Stokes parameters, and we present an analytical description of the data reduction techniques commonly used with a polarimeter (consisting of a retarder wave plate and a Wollaston prism) to explore their advantages and limitations. We first consider an ideal polarimeter in which all optical components are perfectly defined by their nominal characteristics. We then introduce deviations from the nominal behavior of the polarimetric optics, and develop an analytical model to describe the polarization of the outgoing radiation. We study and compare the results of two different data reduction methods, one based on the differences of the signals, and one based on their ratios, to evaluate the residual amount of spurious polarization. We show that data reduction techniques may fully compensate for small deviations of the polarimetric optics from their nominal values, although some important (first-order) corrections have to be adopted for linear polarization data. We include a detailed discussion of quality checking by means of null parameters. We present an application to data obtained with the FORS1 instrument of the ESO VLT, in which we have detected a significant amount of cross talk between circular and linear polarization. We show that this cross-talk effect is not due to the polarimetric optics themselves, but is most likely caused by spurious birefringence due to the instrument's collimator lens.

Context. The evolution of magnetic fields in Ap stars during the main sequence phase is presently mostly unconstrained by observation because of the difficulty of assigning accurate ages to known field Ap stars. Aims. We are carrying out a large survey of magnetic fields in cluster Ap stars with the goal of obtaining a sample of these stars with well-determined ages. In this paper we analyse the information available from the survey as it currently stands. Methods. We select from the available observational sample the stars that are probably (1) cluster or association members and (2) magnetic Ap stars. For the stars in this subsample we determine the fundamental parameters T eff , L/L , and M/M . With these data and the cluster ages we assign both absolute age and fractional age (the fraction of the main sequence lifetime completed). For this purpose we have derived new bolometric corrections for Ap stars. Results. Magnetic fields are present at the surfaces of Ap stars from the ZAMS to the TAMS. Statistically for the stars with M > 3 M the fields decline with advancing age approximately as expected from flux conservation together with increased stellar radius, or perhaps even faster than this rate, on a time scale of about 3 × 10 7 yr. In contrast, lower mass stars show no compelling evidence for field decrease even on a timescale of several times 10 8 yr. Conclusions. Study of magnetic cluster stars is now a powerful tool for obtaining constraints on evolution of Ap stars through the main sequence. Enlarging the sample of known cluster magnetic stars, and obtaining more precise rms fields, will help to clarify the results obtained so far. Further field observations are in progress.

This is the first in a series of papers in which we describe and report the analysis of a large survey of Herbig Ae/Be stars in circular spectropolarimetry. Using the ESPaDOnS and Narval high-resolution spectropolarimeters at the Canada-France-Hawaii and Bernard Lyot Telescopes, respectively, we have acquired 132 circularly-polarised spectra of 70 Herbig Ae/Be stars and Herbig candidates. The large majority of these spectra are characterised by a resolving power of about 65,000, and a spectral coverage from about 3700 Å to 1 µm. The peak signal-to-noise ratio per CCD pixel ranges from below 100 (for the faintest targets) to over 1000 (for the brightest). The observations were acquired with the primary aim of searching for magnetic fields in these objects. However, our spectra are suitable for a variety of other important measurements, including rotational properties, variability, binarity, chemical abundances, circumstellar environment conditions and structure, etc. In this first paper, we describe the sample selection, the observations and their reduction, and the measurements that will comprise the basis of much of our following analysis. We describe the determination of fundamental parameters for each target. We detail the Least-Squares Deconvolution that we have applied to each of our spectra, including the selection, editing and tuning of the LSD line masks. We describe the fitting of the LSD Stokes I profiles using a multi-component model that yields the rotationally-broadened photospheric profile (providing the projected rotational velocity and radial velocity for each observation) as well as circumstellar emission and absorption components. Finally, we diagnose the longitudinal Zeeman effect via the measured circular polarisation, and report the longitudinal magnetic field and Stokes V Zeeman signature detection probability. As an appendix, we provide a detailed review of each star observed.

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.Comment: Accepted by Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2007 January 11. Received 2007 January 11; in original form 2006 August 18. The paper contains 18 pages, 11 figures and 2 table

Abstract. We present the results of a statistical study of the magnetic structure of upper main sequence chemically peculiar stars. We have modelled a sample of 34 stars, assuming that the magnetic morphology is described by the superposition of a dipole and a quadrupole field, arbitrarily oriented. In order to interpret the modelling results, we have introduced a novel set of angles that provides one with a convenient way to represent the mutual orientation of the quadrupolar component, the dipolar component, and the rotation axis. Some of our results are similar to what has already been found in previous studies, e.g., that the inclination of the dipole axis to the rotation axis is usually large for short-period stars and small for long-period ones -see Landstreet & Mathys (2000). We also found that for short-period stars (approximately P < 10 days) the plane containing the two unit vectors that characterise the quadrupole is almost coincident with the plane containing the stellar rotation axis and the dipole axis. Long-period stars seem to be preferentially characterised by a quadrupole orientation such that the planes just mentioned are perpendicular. There is also some loose indication of a continuous transition between the two classes of stars with increasing rotational period.