A quest for the missing young and energetic pulsars in the SMC

We propose XMMNewton observations of the two most promising candidates fordetecting the young and energetic rotation powered pulsars in the SMC, expectedfrom its recent star formation history. Until now, only binary accretion poweredpulsars and a few slower and older RPPs are known. Our prime candidate is IKT16: the only confirmed PWN in the SMC with a non thermal compact source at thecentre. The other, AX J0043737 was indicated to show pulsations at 87 ms from aprevious ASCA observation, but the detection was only marginal. Detectingpulsars and further characterizing their periodicity and spin down power wouldopen a new window in the study of RPPs in the SMC and in the population study ofthis gasrich system. truncated!, Please see actual data for full text [truncated!, Please see actual data for full text]