The Quark Jet Function for $k_T$-like Variables in NNLO QCD

Abstract

The precise description of jet processes requires observables capable of efficiently capturing the dynamics of the energy flow in hadronic final states. We consider a class of tranverse-momentum like resolution variables that smoothly describe the $n+1$ to $n$ jet transition in multi-jet processes. We discuss a general method for the computation of the corresponding quark jet function at next-to-next-to-leading order in perturbative QCD. Rapidity divergences are regulated by using a time-like auxiliary vector. We present explicit results for a variant of $y_{23}$ in the $E$-scheme and in the WTA scheme.