On an inverse tridiagonal eigenvalue problem and its application to synchronization of network motion

Abstract: In this work, motivated by the study of stability of the synchronous orbit of a network with tridiagonal Laplacian matrix, we first solve an inverse eigenvalue problem which builds a tridiagonal Laplacian matrix with eigenvalues $\lambda_1=0<\lambda_2<\cdots <\lambda_N$ and null-vector $\boldsymbol{e} = \begin{bmatrix} 1 \ \vdots \ 1 \end{bmatrix}$. Then, we show how this result can be used to guarantee -- if possible -- that a synchronous orbit of a connected tridiagonal network associated to the matrix $L$ above is asymptotically stable, in the sense of having an associated negative Master Stability Function (MSF). We further show that there are limitations when we also impose symmetry for $L$.