3-JET CROSS-SECTIONS TO NEXT-TO-LEADING ORDER

One- and two-jet inclusive quantities in hadron collisions have alread y been calculated to next-to-leading order accuracy, using both the su btraction and the slicing method. Since the one-loop corrections have recently been obtained for all five-parton amplitudes, three-jet inclu sive quantities can also be predicted to next-to-leading order. The su btraction method presented in the literature is based on a systematic use of boost-invariant kinematical variables, and therefore its applic ation to three-jet production is quite cumbersome. In this paper we re -analyze the subtraction method and point out the advantage of using a ngle and energy variables. This leads to simpler results and has compl ete generality, extending its validity to n-jet production. The formal ism is also applicable to n-jet production in e(+)e(-) annihilation an d in photon-hadron collisions. All the analytical results necessary to construct an efficient numerical program for next-to-leading order th ree-jet inclusive quantities in hadroproduction are given explicitly. As a new analytical result, we also report the collinear limits of all the two-to-four processes.