NLO Corrections to the kernel of the BKP-equations

We present results for the NLO kernel of the BKP equations for composite states of three reggeized gluons in the Odderon channel, both in QCD and in N=4 SYM. The NLO kernel consists of the NLO BFKL kernel in the color octet representation and the connected $3\to3$ kernel, computed in the tree approximation.Comment: 28 pages, 7 figure

Off-Shell Scattering Amplitudes for WW Scattering and the Role of the Photon Pole

We derive analytic expressions for high energy $2 \to 2$ off-shell scattering amplitudes of weak vector bosons. They are obtained from six fermion final states in processes of the type $e^+ e^- \to \bar\nu_e + (WW) + \nu_e \to \bar\nu_e + (l\nu)(l\nu) + \nu_e$. As an application we reconsider the unitarity bounds on the Higgs mass. Particular attention is given to the role of the photon exchange which has not been considered in earlier investigations; we find that the photon weakens the bound of the Higgs mass.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figure

Saturation and geometric scaling in DIS at small x

We present various aspects of the saturation model which provides good description of inclusive and diffractive DIS at small x. The model uses parton saturation ideas to take into account unitarity requirements. A new scaling predicted by the model in the small x domain is successfully confronted with the data.Comment: Presented at New Trends in HERA Physics 2001, Ringberg Castle, Tegernsee, Germany, 17-22 June 2001, minor corrections, some references adde

Unifying approach to hard diffraction

We find a consistency between two different approaches of hard diffraction, namely the QCD dipole model and the Soft Colour Interaction approach. A theoretical interpretation in terms of S-Matrix and perturbative QCD properties in the small $x_{Bj}$ regime is proposed.Comment: 4pages, 1 figure, letter submitted for publicatio

Electroproduction of two light vector mesons in next-to-leading BFKL: study of systematic effects

The forward electroproduction of two light vector mesons is the first example of a collision process between strongly interacting colorless particles for which the amplitude can be written completely within perturbative QCD in the Regge limit with next-to-leading accuracy. In a previous paper we have given a numerical determination of the amplitude in the case of equal photon virtualities by using a definite representation for the amplitude and a definite optimization method for the perturbative series. Here we estimate the systematic uncertainty of our previous determination, by considering a different representation of the amplitude and different optimization methods of the perturbative series. Moreover, we compare our result for the differential cross section at the minimum momentum transfer with a different approach, based on collinear kernel improvement.Comment: 17 pages, 11 figures; journal version, new figures and discussion adde

High Energy Photon-Photon Collisions at a Linear Collider

High intensity back-scattered laser beams will allow the efficient conversion of a substantial fraction of the incident lepton energy into high energy photons, thus significantly extending the physics capabilities of an electron-electron or electron-positron linear collider. The annihilation of two photons produces C=+ final states in virtually all angular momentum states. The annihilation of polarized photons into the Higgs boson determines its fundamental two-photon coupling as well as determining its parity. Other novel two-photon processes include the two-photon production of charged lepton pairs, vector boson pairs, as well as supersymmetric squark and slepton pairs and Higgstrahlung. The one-loop box diagram leads to the production of pairs of neutral particles. High energy photon-photon collisions can also provide a remarkably background-free laboratory for studying possibly anomalous $W W$ collisions and annihilation. In the case of QCD, each photon can materialize as a quark anti-quark pair which interact via multiple gluon exchange. The diffractive channels in photon-photon collisions allow a novel look at the QCD pomeron and odderon. Odderon exchange can be identified by looking at the heavy quark asymmetry. In the case of electron-photon collisions, one can measure the photon structure functions and its various components. Exclusive hadron production processes in photon-photon collisions test QCD at the amplitude level and measure the hadron distribution amplitudes which control exclusive semi-leptonic and two-body hadronic B-decays.Comment: Invited talk, presented at the 5th International Workshop On Electron-Electron Interactions At TeV Energies, Santa Cruz, California, 12-14 December 200

Four point function of R-currents in N=4 SYM in the Regge limit at weak coupling

We compute, in N=4 super Yang-Mills theory, the four point correlation function of R-currents in the Regge limit in the leading logarithmic approximation at weak coupling. Such a correlator is the closest analog to photon-photon scattering within QCD, and there is a well-defined procedure to perform the analogous computation at strong coupling via the AdS/CFT correspondence. The main result of this paper is, on the gauge theory side, the proof of Regge factorization and the explicit computation of the R-current impact factors.Comment: 21 pages, 10 figures, typos correcte

The K-theoretic Farrell-Jones Conjecture for hyperbolic groups

We prove the K-theoretic Farrell-Jones Conjecture for hyperbolic groups with (twisted) coefficients in any associative ring with unit.Comment: 33 pages; final version; to appear in Invent. Mat

Resummation of double logarithms in electroweak high energy processes

At future linear $e^+e^-$ collider experiments in the TeV range, Sudakov double logarithms originating from massive boson exchange can lead to significant corrections to the cross sections of the observable processes. These effects are important for the high precision objectives of the Next Linear Collider. We use the infrared evolution equation, based on a gauge invariant dispersive method, to obtain double logarithmic asymptotics of scattering amplitudes and discuss how it can be applied, in the case of broken gauge symmetry, to the Standard Model of electroweak processes. We discuss the double logarithmic effects to both non-radiative processes and to processes accompanied by soft gauge boson emission. In all cases the Sudakov double logarithms are found to exponentiate. We also discuss double logarithmic effects of a non-Sudakov type which appear in Regge-like processes.Comment: 26 pages, 3 figures, Latex2