Two-loop anomalous dimension in light-cone gauge with Mandelstam-Leibbrandt prescription

Abstract

All the next-to-leading order results on Altarelli-Parisi splitting functions have been obtained in the literature either by using the operator product expansion method or by making use of the Curci Furmanski Petronzio (CFP) formalism in conjunction with light-like axial gauge, principal value (PV) prescription and dimensional regularization. In this paper we present the calculation of some non-singlet two-loop anomalous dimensions within the CFP formalism using light-cone axial gauge with Mandelstam-Leibbrandt (ML) prescription. We make a detailed comparison between the intermediate results given by the (PV) versus the (ML) method. We point out that the (ML) method is completely consistent and avoids the ``phenomenological rules'' used in the case of (PV) regularization.