N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills scattering amplitudes at high energies: the Regge cut contribution

We further investigate, in the planar limit of N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories, the high energy Regge behavior of six-point MHV scattering amplitudes. In particular, for the new Regge cut contribution found in our previous paper, we compute in the leading logarithmic approximation (LLA) the energy spectrum of the BFKL equation in the color octet channel, and we calculate explicitly the two-loop corrections to the discontinuities of the amplitudes for the transitions 2→4 and 3→3. We find an explicit solution of the BFKL equation for the octet channel for arbitrary momentum transfers and investigate the intercepts of the Regge singularities in this channel. As an important result we find that the universal collinear and infrared singularities of the BDS formula are not affected by this Regge-cut contribution. Any improvement of the BDS formula should reproduce this cut to all orders in the coupling. (orig.)