Multiparton processes: An application to the double Drell-Yan mechanism

We investigate multiparton processes in the framework of quantum chromodynamics. The spin and color, as well as the factorizability of the process, have been analyzed in detail. The analysis shows that the existence of connecting gluons does not spoil factorizability in the leading-logarithm approximation. We also find that the spin and color degrees of freedom play an important role in the description of multiparton processes. As a consequence, hadrons are described by a set of newly defined structure functions. We apply the general formalism to the double Drell-Yan mechanism. We find that the above-mentioned structure functions are convoluted with two completely uncorrelated single Drell-Yan cross sections.