New classes of exact solutions in inflationary cosmology

The problem of determining a representation of the self-interaction potential in the form of a time dependence of the field potential energy which admits the existence of an inflationary regime and the transition of evolution to a Friedmann regime of asymptotic expansion is investigated within a cosmological model with a self-interacting scalar field. A variational formulation of the slow-roll concept is introduced, and, on the basis thereof, an exact solution is constructed for the evolution of the scale factor and the form of the self-interaction potential. A method based on representing the Einstein equations in the form of a linear second-order equation is developed for constructing and analyzing exact cosmological solutions of these equations. Selected types of potentials and the corresponding evolutions of the universe are investigated.