Renormalization-group properties of transverse-momentum dependent parton distribution functions in the light-cone gauge with the Mandelstam-Leibbrandt prescription

Abstract

The renormalization-group properties of transverse-momentum dependent parton distribution functions in the light-cone gauge with the Mandelstam-Leibbrandt prescription for the gluon propagator are addressed. An expression for the transverse component of the gauge field at light-cone infinity, which plays a crucial role in the description of the final-/initial-state interactions in the light-cone axial gauge, is obtained. The leading-order anomalous dimension is calculated in this gauge and the relation to the results obtained in other gauges is worked out. It is shown that, using the Mandelstam-Leibbrandt prescription, the ensuing anomalous dimension does not receive contributions from extra rapidity divergences related to a cusped junction point of the Wilson lines.

Comments: 13 pages, 2 figures. v2 15 pages, text expanded, 2 figures added, typos removed. v3 some remarks added in conclusions; matches version to be published in PRD