Two-loop QCD corrections to massless identical quark scattering

Abstract

We present the two-loop virtual QCD corrections to the scattering of massless identical quarks, q qbar to q qbar, in conventional dimensional regularisation and using the MSbar scheme. The structure of the infrared divergences agrees with that predicted by Catani while expressions for the finite remainder are given for the q qbar to qbar q and the q q to q q (qbar qbar to qbar qbar) scattering processes in terms of polylogarithms. The results presented here form a vital part of the next-to-next-to-leading order contribution to inclusive jet production in hadron colliders and will play a crucial role in improving the theoretical prediction for jet cross sections in hadron-hadron collisions.