Resummation of non-global logarithms and the BFKL equation

Abstract We consider a ‘color density matrix’ in gauge theory. We argue that it systematically resums large logarithms originating from wide-angle soft radiation, sometimes referred to as non-global logarithms, to all logarithmic orders. We calculate its anomalous dimension at leading- and next-to-leading order. Combined with a conformal transformation known to relate this problem to shockwave scattering in the Regge limit, this is used to rederive the next-to-leading order Balitsky-Fadin-Kuraev-Lipatov equation (including its nonlinear generalization, the so-called Balitsky-JIMWLK equation), finding perfect agreement with the literature. Exponentiation of divergences to all logarithmic orders is demonstrated. The possibility of obtaining the evolution equation (and BFKL) to three-loop is discussed