Note on the Markus-Yamabe conjecture for gradient dynamical systems

Let be a C¹ vector field which has a singular point O and its linearization is asymptotically stable at every point of Rn. We say that the vector field v satisfies the Markus-Yamabe conjecture if the critical point O is a global attractor of the dynamical system . In this note we prove that if v is a gradient vector field, i.e. v=∇f (f∈C²), then the basin of attraction of the critical point O is the whole Rn, thus implying the Markus-Yamabe conjecture for this class of vector fields. An analogous result for discrete dynamical systems of the form xm+1=∇f(xm) is proved.