Mimicking graphene with polaritonic spin vortices

Exploring the properties of strongly correlated systems through quantum simulation with photons, cold atoms, or polaritons represents an active area of research. In fact, the latter sheds light on the behavior of complex systems that are difficult to address in the laboratory or to tackle numerically. In this study, we discuss an analog of graphene formed by exciton-polariton spin vortices arranged into a hexagonal lattice. We show how graphene-type dispersion at different energy scales arises for several types of exciton-polariton spin vortices. In contrast to previous studies of exciton polaritons in artificial lattices, the use of exciton-polariton spin vortex modes offers a richer playground for quantum simulations. In particular, we demonstrate that the sign of the nearest-neighbor coupling strength can be inverted.