Local stabilization and network synchronization: the case of stationary regimes

Relationships between local stability and synchronization in networks of identical dynamical systems are established through the Master Stability Function approach. First, it is shown that stable equilibria of the local dynamics correspond to stable stationary synchronous regimes of the entire network if the coupling among the systems is sufficiently weak or balanced (in other words, stationary synchronous regimes can be unstable only if the coupling is sufficiently large and unbalanced). Then, it is shown that [de]stabilizing factors at local scale are [de]synchronizing at global scale again if the coupling is sufficiently weak or balanced. These results allow one to transfer, with almost no effort, what is known for simple prototypical models in biology and engineering to complex networks composed of these models. This is shown through a series of applications ranging from networks of electrical circuits to various problems in ecology and sociology involving migrations of plants, animal and human populations.