Analyticity properties of three-point functions in QCD beyond leading order

Abstract

The removal of unphysical singularities in the perturbatively calculable part of the pion form factor---a classic example of a three-point function in QCD---is discussed. Different analytization procedures in the sense of Shirkov and Solovtsov are examined in comparison with standard QCD perturbation theory. We show that demanding the analyticity of the partonic amplitude as a whole, as proposed before by Karanikas and Stefanis, one can make infrared finite not only the strong running coupling and its powers, but also cure potentially large logarithms (that first appear at next-to-leading order) containing the factorization scale and modifying the discontinuity across the cut along the negative real axis. The scheme used here generalizes the analytic perturbation theory of Shirkov and Solovtsov to noninteger powers of the strong coupling and diminishes the dependence of QCD hadronic quantities on all perturbative scheme and scale-setting parameters, including the factorization scale.