A sensitive search for young pulsars in supernova remnants using the GMRT

摘要

We present the results from a sensitive targeted search campaign at the GMRT to find young pulsars in Galactic SNRs. A sample of 12 SNRs with "filled-center", "composite" and "shell" type morphologies were searched using a single pixel phased array beam of the GMRT at 610 MHz. No new pulsars were detected in this survey. Known pulsars within field of view of the pointings are seen with expected sensitivity. The achieved search sensitivity of better than 100 (mu)Jy, makes this one of the most sensitive searches for pulsars in SNRs. Single pixel searches with phased array beams of interferometers are ideal for compact SNRs. They are not efficient for searching in extended remnants where the pulsar could have moved a significant distance from the centroid. We describe plans and current status of a new phased array search with the GMRT, that forms multiple simultaneous beams from a single recording of raw voltage data from all the antennae, using the new GMRT Software Back-end (GSB). This new search technique will be able to look for pulsars much more efficiently in extended targets over a larger solid angle, which will also provide a useful demonstrator for pulsar searching with the multi-element radio telescope arrays of the future.