Scalar field cosmologies: a dynamical systems study

Inhomogeneous G2 solutions whose material content can be modelled by a scalar field are considered with a view towards their application as cosmological models. Some generic features of these spacetimes are reviewed and discussed, and dynamical systems theory is used to analyse the qualitative behaviour of this class of spacetimes; giving special attention to the equilibrium (fixed) points of the dynamical system and their associated metrics, and discussing their inflationary behaviour.