Inclusive production of a pair of hadrons separated by a large interval of rapidity in proton collisions

We consider within QCD collinear factorization the inclusive process p + p → h1 +h2 +X, where the pair of identified hadrons, h1, h2, having large transverse momenta is produced in high-energy proton-proton collisions. In particular, we concentrate on the kinematics where the two identified hadrons in the final state are separated by a large interval of rapidity \Delta y. In this case the (calculable) hard part of the reaction receives large higher order corrections, \(alpha_s Delta y)^n. We provide a theoretical input for the resumma- tion of such contributions with next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy (NLA) in the BFKL approach. Specifically, we calculate in NLA the vertex (impact-factor) for the inclusive production of the identified hadron. This process has much in common with the widely discussed Mueller-Navelet jets production and can be also used to access the BFKL dynamics at proton colliders. Another application of the obtained identified-hadron vertex could be the NLA BFKL description of inclusive forward hadron production in DIS.