Symmetric mass generation in a bilayer honeycomb lattice with symmetry
Phys. Rev. B 114, 165125 – Published 16 September, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/dn3v-f483
Abstract
A central question beyond the Landau paradigm is the nonperturbative critical theory of the symmetric mass generation (SMG) transition, where strong interactions gap Dirac fermions in dimensions without triggering spontaneous symmetry breaking or topological order. Sign-problem-free studies have previously found fermion mass generation without bilinear condensation in related models, but the fermionic scaling properties of Hamiltonian SMG transitions remain incompletely characterized. Using sign-problem-free projector determinant quantum Monte Carlo simulations of a bilayer honeycomb lattice model with symmetry and linear sizes up to , we find evidence for a direct continuous transition: the single-particle and bosonic gaps open consistently near , with correlation-length exponent from the better-converged fermionic analysis, while all 19 symmetry-inequivalent local fermion-bilinear multiplets remain disordered. We obtain an unbiased estimate of the fermion anomalous dimension, , which differs from the large- prediction () and the variational Monte Carlo estimate (), thereby constraining candidate descriptions of SMG criticality. A comparison with a related model, which develops an intermediate excitonic phase, illustrates how the symmetry content controls competing bilinear orders.