Real radiation at NNLO: e^+e^- to 2 jets through O(alpha_s^2)

Abstract

We present a calculation of the differential two jet cross section in e^+e^- annihilation through next-to-next-to-leading order in the strong coupling constant alpha_s. The calculation is performed using a new method for dealing with real radiation suggested by us recently. For the first time, the two jet event rate is computed directly, without any reference to the inclusive cross-section e^+e^- to hadrons. We also calculate the energy distribution of the leading jet in e^+e^- to 2 jets, and find significant modifications of the shape of this distribution at NNLO.