BFKL Pomeron, Reggeized gluons and Bern-Dixon-Smirnov amplitudes

Abstract

After a brief review of the BFKL approach to Regge processes in QCD and in supersymmetric (SUSY) gauge theories we propose a strategy for calculating the next-to-next-to-leading order corrections to the BFKL kernel. They can be obtained in terms of various cross-sections for Reggeized gluon interactions. The corresponding amplitudes can be calculated in the framework of the effective action for high energy scattering. In the case of N=4 SUSY it is also possible to use the Bern-Dixon-Smirnov (BDS) ansatz. For this purpose the analytic properties of the BDS amplitudes at high energies are investigated, in order to verify their self-consistency. It is found that, for the number of external particles being larger than five, these amplitudes, beyond one loop, are not in agreement with the BFKL approach which predicts the existence of Regge cuts in some physical channels.Comment: 41 pages, expanded version with many clarifications and new references, conclusions unchanged. Note adde