Cross sections for prompt-photon production at collider energies are not strictly inclusive because an isolation requirement is imposed whereby the photon is detected only if accompanied by a restricted amount of hadronic energy. In this paper we provide a consistent treatment of the isolated prompt-photon cross section in QCD perturbation theory. The isolation requirement reduces sensitivity of the cross section to poorly known long-distance fragmentation contributions. However, the normal cancellation of infrared singularities is upset by the isolation cutoffs, rendering the shortdistance perturbative calculation highly nontrivial. In our solution we address both the short- and the long-distance issues in detail, showing that well-behaved predictions can be derived for a wide range of isolation parameters. Calculated cross sections are presented at several energies and scale dependence of the cross section is examined.

• Received 19 February 1991

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.44.2002