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We report the status of a search for pulsars in the Galactic Centre, using a completely revised and improved high-sensitivity doublehorn system at 4.85-GHz. We also present calculations about the success rate of periodicity searches for such a survey, showing that in contrast to conclusions in recent literature pulsars can be indeed detected at the chosen search frequency.
Radio pulsars in relativistic binary systems are unique tools to study the curved space-time around massive compact objects. The discovery of a pulsar closely orbiting the super-massive black hole at the centre of our Galaxy, Sgr A⋆, would provide a superb test-bed for gravitational physics. To date, the absence of any radio pulsar discoveries within a few arc minutes of Sgr A⋆ has been explained by one principal factor: extreme scattering of radio waves caused by inhomogeneities in the ionized component of the interstellar medium in the central 100 pc around Sgr A⋆. Scattering, which causes temporal broadening of pulses, can only be mitigated by observing at higher frequencies. Here we describe recent searches of the Galactic centre region performed at a frequency of 18.95 GHz with the Effelsberg radio telescope.