2-LOOP ANOMALOUS DIMENSION IN LIGHT-CONE GAUGE WITH MANDELSTAM-LEIBBRANDT PRESCRIPTION

All the next-to-leading order results for Altarelli-Parisi splitting f unctions have been obtained in the literature either by using the oper ator product expansion method or by making use of the Curci-Furmanski- Petronzio (CFP) formalism in conjunction with light-like axial gauge, principal value (PV) prescription and dimensional regularization. In t his paper we present the calculation of some non-singlet two-loop anom alous dimensions within the CFP formalism using light-cone axial gauge with Mandelstam-Leibbrandt (ML) prescription. We make a detailed comp arison between the intermediate results given by the PV versus the ML method. We point out that the ML method is completely consistent and a voids the ''phenomenological rules'' used in the case of PV regulariza tion. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.