Discovery of two new millisecond pulsars toward the Galactic bulge

Aims. The mysterious Galactic center (GC) gamma-ray (γ-ray) excess (GCE) could be explained by a large population of millisecond pulsars (MSPs) hiding in the Galactic bulge, too faint to be detected as individual high-energy point sources by the Fermi Large Area Telescope and too fast and dispersed to be detected in shallow radio pulsation surveys. Methods. Motivated by an innovative candidate selection method, we aim to detect millisecond pulsars associated with the GCE by carrying out deep radio pulsation searches toward promising candidates detected in the inner Galaxy in X rays by Chandra and in radio or γ rays by the Very Large Array or Fermi. Results. We conducted deep radio observation and follow-up campaigns with MeerKAT, as well as the Murriyang and Green Bank telescopes toward nine X-ray candidate sources. Conclusions. We report the detection of two new MSPs, including a black widow candidate, toward the Galactic bulge: PSRs J1740-2805 and J1740-28. These discoveries double the number of MSPs discovered within the innermost 2° from the GC.