Seeking the progenitors of magnetic Ap stars: A search for magnetic fields in HAeBe stars using FORS1 and ESPaDOnS

We report the discovery, using FORS1 at the ESO-VLT and ESPaDOnS at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, of magnetic fields and chemical peculiarities in the Herbig Ae/Be stars HD 72106 and HD 101412. These stars may well represent pre-main sequence progenitors of the magnetic Ap/Bp stars. At the same time, we fail to confirm claims by Hubrig et al. (2004) of the presence of magnetic fields in the Herbig Ae star HD 139614