Piecewise linear Wilson lines

Abstract

Wilson lines, being comparators that render non-local operator products gauge invariant, are extensively used in QCD calculations, especially in small-x calculations, calculations concerning validation of factorisation schemes and in calculations for constructing or modelling parton density functions. We develop an algorithm to express piecewise path ordered exponentials as path ordered integrals over the separate segments, and apply it on linear segments, reducing the number of diagrams needed to be calculated. We show how different linear path topologies can be related using their colour structure. This framework allows one to easily switch results between different Wilson line structures, which is especially useful when testing different structures against each other, e.g. when checking universality properties of non-perturbative objects.