  Sigma Ori E (HD 37479) is the prototypical helium-strong star shown to harbor
a strong magnetic field, as well as a magnetosphere consisting of two clouds of
plasma. The observed optical (ubvy) light curve of sigma Ori E is dominated by
eclipse features due to circumstellar material, however, there remain
additional features unexplained by the Rigidly Rotating Magnetosphere (RRM)
model of Townsend & Owocki. Using the technique of magnetic Doppler imaging
(MDI), spectropolarimetric observations of sigma Ori E are used to produce maps
of both the magnetic field topology and various elemental abundance
distributions. We also present an analysis utilizing these computed MDI maps in
conjunction with NLTE TLUSTY models to study the optical brightness variability
of this star arising from surface inhomogeneities. It has been suggested that
this physical phenomena may be responsible for the light curve inconsistencies
between the model and observations.
