Gauge invariance and anomalous dimensions of a light-cone Wilson loop in light-like axial gauge

Complete two-loop calculation of a dimensionally regularized Wilson loop with light-like segments is performed in the light-like axial gauge with the Mandelstam-Leibbrandt prescription for the gluon propagator. We find an expression which exactly coincides with the one previously obtained for the same Wilson loop in covariant Feynman gauge. The renormalization of the Wilson loop is performed in the MS-scheme using a general procedure tailored to the light-like axial gauge. We find that the renormalized Wilson loop obeys a renormalization group equation with the same anomalous dimensions as in covariant gauges. Physical implications of our result for the investigation of infrared asymptotics of perturbative QCD are pointed out. (orig.)