Program
Workshop schedule and abstracts for TORSION — Tests Of Relativity with Spin InteractiONs.
Last updated: May 21, 2026
Program overview
Each talk includes 5 minutes for questions at the end.
Monday, May 18
Session Chair: Will Terrano (10:00 - 13:00) and Derek Kimball (15:30 - 17:50)
| Time | Speaker | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 10:00–10:20 | — | Introductory remarks |
| 10:20–11:00 | Zoom: Yuri Obukhov (Moscow State) | Introduction to spin and torsion: Gauge-theoretic approach |
| 11:00–11:40 | Filip Ficek (Vienna) | Constraining exotic interactions |
| 11:40–12:20 | — | Coffee break |
| 12:20–13:00 | Josh Long (Illinois) | Spin-dependent force search with compensated ferrimagnets and high-frequency mechanical oscillators |
| 13:00–15:30 | — | Lunchtime |
| 15:30–15:50 | Yuri Bonder (UNAM) | Brute force tests of torsion with slow neutrons |
| 15:50–16:30 | David Baxter (Indiana) | Measuring Electron Spin Polarization: Quantifying a Testbed for Spin-Dependent Forces |
| 16:30–17:10 | — | Coffee break |
| 17:10–17:50 | Zoom: Yevgeny Stadnik (Sydney) | Spin-dependent exotic interactions |
Tuesday, May 19
Session Chair: Filip Ficek (10:00 - 13:00)
| Time | Speaker | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 10:00–10:20 | Oscar Ramírez (UNAM) | Can Gravity Detect Spin? |
| 10:20–11:00 | Michael Romalis (Princeton) | Searching for spin-gravity interactions with He-Ne co-magnetometer |
| 11:00–11:40 | Neil Russell (Northern Michigan) | Limits on Torsion based on Searches for Exotic Backgrounds |
| 11:40–12:20 | — | Coffee break |
| 12:20–12:40 | Sepehr Samiei (Indiana) | In-Matter Torsion and Nonmetricity Constraints from Neutron Spin Rotation Through an Ensemble of Polarized Electrons |
| 12:40–13:00 | Zafar Iqbal (UNAM) | Next-Generation Neutron EDM Searches and Axion-Induced Spin Interactions |
Afternoon cultural activity
A guided walk through the historic neighborhood of Coyoacán where important early 20th century figures lived, including Frida Kahlo.
Wednesday, May 20
Session Chair: Alexander Hipp (10:00 - 13:00) and Neil Russell (15:30 - 18:10)
| Time | Speaker | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 10:00–10:20 | Rodrigo Morales (UNAM) | Semiclassical Gravity beyond General Relativity: Insights from torsion |
| 10:20–11:00 | Will Terrano (Arizona State) | Enhancing sensitivity to exotic physics with quantum control |
| 11:00–11:40 | Daniel Sudarsky (UNAM) | An important lesson form the Neutron about fundamental aspects of Quantum theory and implications for Cosmology |
| 11:40–12:20 | — | Coffee break |
| 12:20–13:00 | Derek Kimball (California State) | Searches for exotic signals of astrophysical origin using spin-based sensors |
| 13:00–15:30 | — | Lunchtime |
| 15:30–15:50 | Francisco Barriga (Bio Bio) | Faraday-Cartan Effect and Anomalous Polarization Propagation in Gravitational Waves with Torsion |
| 15:50–16:30 | Alexander Hipp (Northwestern) | Searching for New Macroscopic Forces with ARIADNE |
| 16:30–17:10 | — | Coffee break |
| 17:10–18:10 | — | Closing remarks |
Lunchtime cultural activity
Walking tour of the main campus of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.