¹ European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 2, D-85748 Garching b. Muenchen, Germany
² Landessternwarte Königstuhl, D-69119 Heidelberg, Germany
³ Astronomical Institute, Academy of Sciences, CZ-25165 Ondrejov, Czech Republic

Nonradial pulsation fully explains the available spectroscopic and accompanying photometric observations of the short-periodic variability of Be stars. But it is not obvious that this variability, which only concerns early spectral sub-classes, or its explanation can play a key role in understanding the Be phenomenon, i.e., a rotationally supported disk around a rapidly rotating, single B-type star. In some areas, magnetic fields have been invoked instead. However, without any confirmed detection, such conjectures have a soft foundation or are even wrong.

To appear in Proc. International Conference on Magnetic Fields in O, B and A Stars: Origin and Relation to Pulsation, Rotation and Mass Loss, ASP Conf. Ser.
Preprints from dbaade@eso.org