Scalar field cosmological models with finite scale factor singularities

We construct a scalar field based cosmological model, possessing a cosmological singularity characterized by a finite value of the cosmological radius and an infinite scalar curvature. Using the methods of the qualitative theory of differential equations, we give a complete description of the cosmological evolutions in the model under consideration. There are four classes of evolutions, two of which have finite lifetimes, while the other two undergo an infinite expansion. We discuss also the relation between the dynamics of the model and the intermediate inflation phenomenology. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.