The colour matrix at next-to-leading-colour accuracy for tree-level multi-parton processes

bstract We investigate the next-to-leading-colour (NLC) contributions to the colour matrix in the fundamental and the colour-flow decompositions for tree-level processes with all gluons, one quark pair and two quark pairs. By analytical examination of the colour factors, we find the non-zero elements in the colour matrix at NLC. At this colour order, together with the symmetry of the phase-space, it is reduced from factorial to polynomial the scaling of the contributing dual amplitudes as the number of partons participating in the scattering process is increased. This opens a path to an accurate tree-level matrix element generator of which all factorial complexity is removed, without resulting to Monte Carlo sampling over colour.