# Magnetic fields of peculiar HgMn A type stars

Do HgMn (peculiar A type) stars really possess global magnetic fields? See, for example, this paper by Hubrig et al. from 2012.

• 'Do they possess magnetic fields'... Not 'are they possess magnetic fields'. Why do you ask? Is there something about the paper that is a problem for you? Is there a reason why you would find it surprising to have it claimed that HgMn stars have a magnetic field, al beit a weak one? – Jeremy Mar 13 '14 at 10:39
• My interpretation of the question (and of course correct me if I'm wrong) was that @user2579566 was asking if the magnetic fields exist on these stars, due to the ongoing debate in the scientific community. Is that the case, or am I off-track? – HDE 226868 Aug 13 '14 at 17:42
• Yes, you are right @HDE226868 – user2579566 Aug 14 '14 at 10:35
• So, what does the paper say about? – Py-ser Nov 24 '14 at 1:54
• A related meta discussion. The issue here is that the answer to this is a "We're not sure", but I'm reluctant to post an answer built around that. – HDE 226868 Nov 30 '14 at 2:41

One thing that seems to be clear is that HgMn stars have only an extremely weak net longitudinal magnetic field component, if any. Shorlin et al. (2002) did an early survey of HgMn, Am, and Ap stars, and detected no longitudinal magnetic fields in the former, with a median 1$\sigma$ uncertainty of 39 Gauss. Makaganiuk et al. (2010) also found $B_z$ values of 0 in the stars they surveyed, with a higher precision - a 1$\sigma$ uncertainty of 0.81-10 Gauss, varying between stars. Other studies also yielded precisions of less than a few Gauss for some stars (see mentions by Makaguniak (2011)).