Color gauge invariance in the Drell-Yan process

Abstract We consider the color gauge invariance of a factorized description of the Drell–Yan process cross section. In particular, we focus on the next-to-leading twist contributions for polarized scattering and on the cross section differential in the transverse momentum of the lepton pair in the region where the transverse momentum is small compared to the hard scale. The hadron tensor is expressed in terms of manifestly color gauge invariant, non-local operator matrix elements and a color gauge invariant treatment of soft gluon poles is given. Also, we clarify the discrepancy between two published results for a single spin asymmetry in the Drell–Yan cross section. This asymmetry arises if such a soft gluon pole is present in a specific twist-three hadronic matrix element.