The first Physics Minds Strategic Forum was held at M234 conference room at the Institute of Physics (IOP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) on December 25, 2020. The topic under discussion is "What is Mott physics." It attracted more than 40 Academicians, experts and scholars from inside and outside of IOP.

According to Fang Zhong, Director of IOP, the Institute takes the lead in organizing such new academic forums in a bid to encourage front-line researchers to think deeply and carry out in-depth discussions for profound understanding of major scientific problems, so as to explore the sources, find the directions and solve relevant problems. It also aims to encourage exchanges, mutual inspiration and collision of ideas among different disciplines as well as among people of different ages and from all social strata to find out how things work. The series of forums will invite experts and scholars from home and abroad who have unique insights and in-depth thinking in the topic-related field to express their views and ideas freely, systematically sort out the problems that have not been solved before and the possible development directions in the future.

As the organizers, Prof. Meng Sheng and Prof. Li Yongqing explained the organizational rules of the forum.

The forum was presided over by Academician Xiang Tao. He said that although Mott physics has been studied for decades, its exact definition and physical origin are not yet clear. However, many breakthroughs have indeed been made in this strongly correlated system, which have many important implications. A careful study of Mott physics can further deepen people's understanding of the physical world.

The forum then saw a unique exchange of ideas on Mott physics and other problems in the strongly correlated electronic system, focusing on scientific problems that have yet to be solved and future directions of this field. The participants include Academicians Yu Lu and Fang Zhong from IOP, Academician Gong Xingao from Fudan University, Prof. Wang Nanlin from Peking University, Prof. Weng Zhengyu and Wang Yayu from Tsinghua University, Prof. Li Jianxin from Nanjing University, Prof. Feng Donglai from the University of Science and Technology of China, Prof. Yin Zhiping from Beijing Normal University, Prof. Zhou Xingjiang from IOP, and many other scholars. The event produced good effect in breaking traditional understanding, arousing new interest and focusing on new issues.

The Physics Minds Strategic Forum comprises a new series of academic activities held by IOP, with each session focusing on one frontier issue. It aims to promote in-depth collision of ideas among physicists, enhance high-level communication and cooperation among research teams, solve major scientific and technological problems of national importance, make breakthroughs in key and core technologies that restrict development and achieve more world-class original results.