On next to soft threshold corrections to DIS and SIA processes

Abstract

We study the perturbative structure of threshold enhanced logarithms in the coefficient functions of deep inelastic scattering (DIS) and semi-inclusive $e^+e^-$ annihilation (SIA) processes and setup a framework to sum them up to all orders in perturbation theory. Threshold logarithms show up as the distributions $((1-z)^{-1} \log^i(1-z))_+$ from the soft plus virtual (SV) and as logarithms $\log^i(1-z)$ from next to SV (NSV) contributions. We use the Sudakov differential and the renormalisation group equations along with the factorisation properties of parton level cross sections to obtain the resummed result which predicts SV as well as next to SV contributions to all orders in strong coupling constant. In Mellin $N$ space, we resum the large logarithms of the form $\log^i(N)$ keeping $1/N$ corrections. In particular, the towers of logarithms, each of the form $a_s^n/N^\alpha \log^{2n-\alpha} (N), a_s^n/N^\alpha \log^{2n-1-\alpha}(N) \cdots $ etc for $\alpha =0,1$, are summed to all orders in $a_s$.