The four-loop quark-to-quark splitting function in QCD

Abstract: The scale evolution of parton distributions is governed by splitting functions. We compute the four-loop pure-singlet contribution to the quark-to-quark splitting function in perturbative QCD. Together with the known non-singlet contribution, our result completes the quark-to-quark splitting function at this order. We confirm previous partial results and obtain, for the first time, a fully analytic expression valid for all momentum fractions. We examine its behavior at small momentum fractions and provide precise numerical representations suitable for parton evolution.