We report the first rotation powered pulsars discovered in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) in more than a decade. PSR J0043-73 and PSR J0052-72 were discovered during a Parkes Multi-Beam (PMB) survey of MCSNR J0127-7332, and five new, optically selected, supernova remnant (SNR) candidates identified by the XMM Newton survey. In addition to the candidates, we adjusted the PMB rotation to include an additional nine SNRs and pulsar wind nebulae. We searched for young pulsars (1 -200 ms) employing a Fourier analysis with PRESTO, as well as a search for longer period pulsars (200 ms -360 s) with a fast folding algorithm. Our targeted survey had a limiting flux density of 0.039 mJy for periods greater than 50 ms. Although not the main target of this search it was also sensitive to millisecond pulsars. PSR J0043-73 has a period and dispersion measure of 937.42937 (26) ms and 115.1 (3.4) pc cm -3 respectively, and PSR J0052-72 has a period of 191.444328 (46) ms and a DM of 158.6 (1.6) pc cm -3 .

We model the present day, observable, normal radio pulsar population of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). The pulsars are generated with SeBa, a binary population synthesis code that evolves binaries and the constituent stellar objects up to remnant formation and beyond. We define radio pulsars by selecting neutron stars that satisfy a selection of criteria defined by Galactic pulsars, and apply the detection thresholds of previous and future SMC pulsar surveys. The number of synthesised and recovered pulsars are exceptionally sensitive to the assumed star formation history and applied radio luminosity model, but is not affected extensively by the assumed common envelope model, metallicity, and neutron star kick velocity distribution. We estimate that the SMC formed (1.6 ± 0.3) ×10 4 normal pulsars during the last 100 Myrs. We study which pulsars could have been observed by the Parkes multibeam survey of the SMC, by applying the survey's specific selection effects, and recover 4.0 ± 0.8 synthetic pulsars. This is in agreement with their five observed pulsars. We also apply a proposed MeerKAT configuration for the upcoming SMC survey, and predict that the MeerKAT survey will detect 17.2 ± 2.5 pulsars.

We present the results of simultaneous observations of the transitional millisecond pulsar (tMSP) candidate CXOU J110926.4–650224 with the XMM-Newton satellite and the MeerKAT telescope. The source was found at an average X-ray luminosity of LX ≃ 7 × 1033 erg s−1 over the 0.3−10 keV band (assuming a distance of 4 kpc) and displayed a peculiar variability pattern in the X-ray emission, switching between high, low and flaring modes on timescales of tens of seconds. A radio counterpart was detected at a significance of 7.9σ with an average flux density of ≃33 μJy at 1.28 GHz. It showed variability over the course of hours and emitted a ≃10-min long flare just a few minutes after a brief sequence of multiple X-ray flares. No clear evidence for a significant correlated or anticorrelated variability pattern was found between the X-ray and radio emissions over timescales of tens of minutes and longer. CXOU J110926.4–650224 was undetected at higher radio frequencies in subsequent observations performed with the Australia Telescope Compact Array, when the source was still in the same X-ray sub-luminous state observed before, down to a flux density upper limit of 15 μJy at 7.25 GHz (at 3σ). We compare the radio emission properties of CXOU J110926.4–650224 with those observed in known and candidate tMSPs and discuss physical scenarios that may account for its persistent and flaring radio emissions.