Many body effects and cluster state quantum computation in strongly interacting systems of photons

We discuss the basic properties of a recently proposed hybrid light-matter system of strongly interacting photons in an array of coupled cavities each doped with a single two level system. Using the non-linearity generated from the photon blockade effect, we predict strong correlations between the hopping photons in the array, and show the possibility of observing a phase transition from a polaritonic insulator to a superfluid of photons. In the Mott phase, this interaction can be mapped to an array of spins. We show how the remaining Hamiltonian, in conjunction with individual spin manipulation, can thus be used for simulating spin chains (useful for state transfer protocols) and cluster state quantum computation.