Symmetric Mass Generation in the 1+1 Dimensional Chiral Fermion 3-4-5-0 Model

Lattice regularization of chiral fermions has been a long-standing problem in physics. In this Letter, we present the density matrix renormalization group simulation of the 3-4-5-0 model of (1+1)D chiral fermions with an anomaly-free chiral U(1) symmetry, which contains two left-moving and two rightmoving fermions carrying U(1) charges 3,4 and 5,0, respectively. Following the Wang-Wen chiral fermion model, we realize the chiral fermions and their mirror partners on the opposite boundaries of a thin strip of ð2 þ 1ÞD lattice model of multilayer Chern insulator, whose finite width implies the quantum system is effectively (1+1)D. By introducing two sets of carefully designed six-fermion local interactions to the mirror sector only, we demonstrate that the mirror fermions can be gapped out by the interaction beyond a critical strength without breaking the chiral U(1) symmetry, via the symmetric mass generation mechanism. We show that the interaction-driven gapping transition is in the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless universality class. We determine the evolution of Luttinger parameters before the transition, which confirms that the transition happens exactly at the point when the interaction term becomes marginal. As the mirror sector is gapped after the transition, we check that the fermions in the light chiral fermion sector remain gapless, which provides the desired lattice regularization of chiral fermions.