We consider a class of non-linear dynamics on a graph that contains and
generalizes various models from network systems and control and study
convergence to uniform agreement states using gradient methods. In particular,
under the assumption of detailed balance, we provide a method to formulate the
governing ODE system in gradient descent form of sum-separable energy
functions, which thus represent a class of Lyapunov functions; this class
coincides with Csisz\'{a}r's information divergences. Our approach bases on a
transformation of the original problem to a mass-preserving transport problem
and it reflects a little-noticed general structure result for passive network
synthesis obtained by B.D.O. Anderson and P.J. Moylan in 1975. The proposed
gradient formulation extends known gradient results in dynamical systems
obtained recently by M. Erbar and J. Maas in the context of porous medium
equations. Furthermore, we exhibit a novel relationship between inhomogeneous
Markov chains and passive non-linear circuits through gradient systems, and
show that passivity of resistor elements is equivalent to strict convexity of
sum-separable stored energy. Eventually, we discuss our results at the
intersection of Markov chains and network systems under sinusoidal coupling
