Stochastic inflation and nonlinear gravity

We show how nonlinear effects of the metric and scalar fields may be included in stochastic inflation. Our formalism can be applied to non-Gaussian fluctuation models for galaxy formation. Fluctuations with wavelengths larger than the horizon length are governed by a network of Langevin equations for the physical fields. Stochastic noise terms arise from quantum fluctuations that are assumed to become classical at horizon crossing and that then contribute to the background. Using Hamilton-Jacobi methods, we solve the Arnowitt-Deser-Misner constraint equations which allows us to separate the growing modes from the decaying ones in the drift phase following each stochastic impulse. We argue that the most reasonable choice of time hypersurfaces for the Langevin system during inflation is T=ln(Ha), where H and a are the local values of the Hubble parameter and the scale factor, since T is the natural time for evolving the short-wavelength scalar field fluctuations in an inhomogeneous background