Tunneling in Stochastic Inflation

Abstract

The relative probability to decay towards different vacua during inflation is studied. The calculation is performed in single-field slow-roll potentials using the stochastic inflation formalism. Various situations are investigated, including falling from a local maximum of the potential and escaping from a local minimum. In the latter case, our result is consistent with that of Hawking and Moss, but is applicable to any potential. The decay rates are also computed, and the case of a generic potential with multiple minima and maxima is discussed.