RELAXATION DOMINATED COSMOLOGICAL EXPANSION

The behavior near the singularity of an isotropic, homogeneous cosmolo gical model with a viscous fluid source is investigated. This turns ou t to be a relaxation dominated regime. Full extended irreversible ther modynamics is used, and a comparison with results of the truncated the ory is made. New singular behaviors are found and it is shown that a r elaxation dominated inflationary epoch may exist for fluids with a sma ll heat capacity.