Comment on "Synchronization dynamics in non-normal networks: the trade-off for optimality"

TL;DR

This paper clarifies misconceptions in a recent study on non-normal network synchronization, reaffirming established theoretical results and emphasizing the importance of correct formalism interpretation.

Contribution

It corrects the misinterpretation of the master stability function in the recent paper and reaffirms the validity of prior theoretical and experimental findings.

Findings

The recent study's conclusions are artifacts of misinterpreted formalism.

Established literature on synchronization in non-normal networks remains valid.

The importance of proper formalism application in network dynamics research.

Abstract

A recent paper by R. Muolo, T. Carletti, J. P. Gleeson, and M. Asllani [Entropy 23, 36 (2021)] presents a mainly numerical study on the role of non-normality in the synchronization of coupled periodic oscillators, deriving apparent contradictions with the existing literature. Here, we show that their conclusions are artifactual due to a misinterpretation of the master stability function formalism and confirm that the existing literature is correct. We also point to a broader existing literature in which research considered in this paper was correctly addressed numerically, analytically, and experimentally.