Revisiting the time-ordering issue of TMD soft factors: causality, coordinate space analyticity and new equalities

Abstract

Abstract We show that as a result of causality-constrained coordinate space analyticity, the Drell-Yan-shape transverse-momentum dependent soft factor in the exponential regulator allows Euclidean-type parametric representations without cuts, to all orders in perturbation theory. Moreover, it is identical to another soft factor defined with a single time-ordering that has a natural interpretation as a space-like form factor. Furthermore, this relation continues to hold for a larger class of TMD soft factors that interpolate between three different rapidity regulators: the off-light-cone regulator, the finite light-front length regulator, and the exponential regulator.