The Inclusive Two Jet Triply Differential Cross Section

Abstract

We study the inclusive two jet triply differential cross section $d^3\sigma/dE_Td\eta_1d\eta_2$ at Fermilab energies. Different $\eta_1$ and $\eta_2$ pseudorapidity regions are directly related to both the parton level matrix elements and the parton densities at leading order. We present the next-to-leading order [${\cal O}(\alpha_s^3)$] corrections and show that the shape of the distribution at fixed transverse energy $E_T$ is a particularly powerful tool for constraining the parton distributions at small to moderate $x$ values. We investigate the renormalisation/factorisation scale uncertainty present in the normalisation and shape of the distribution at next-to-leading order. We discuss specific slices of the distribution, the same-side/opposite side ratio and the signed pseudorapidity distribution, in detail and compare them with preliminary experimental data.