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Abstract

We present the description and initial results of the TRAPUM (TRAnsients And
PUlsars with MeerKAT) search for pulsars associated with supernova remnants
(SNRs), pulsar wind nebulae and unidentified TeV emission. The list of sources
to be targeted includes a large number of well-known candidate pulsar locations
but also new candidate SNRs identified using a range of criteria. Using the
64-dish MeerKAT radio telescope, we use an interferometric beamforming
technique to tile the potential pulsar locations with coherent beams which we
search for radio pulsations, above a signal-to-noise of 9, down to an average
flux density upper limit of 30 $\mu$Jy. This limit is target-dependent due to
the contribution of the sky and nebula to the system temperature. Coherent
beams are arranged to overlap at their 50 per cent power radius, so the
sensitivity to pulsars is not degraded by more than this amount, though
realistically averages around 65 per cent if every location in the beam is
considered. We report the discovery of two new pulsars; PSR J1831$-$0941 is an
adolescent pulsar likely to be the plerionic engine of the candidate PWN
G20.0+0.0, and PSR J1818$-$1502 appears to be an old and faint pulsar that we
serendipitously discovered near the centre of a SNR already hosting a compact
central object. The survey holds importance for better understanding of neutron
star birth rates and the energetics of young pulsars.