Electroweak double logarithms in inclusive observables for a generic initial state

High energy observables are characterized by large electroweak radiative corrections of infrared origin; double logarithms are present even for inclusive cross sections, thus violating the Bloch-Nordsieck theorem. This effect, related to the initial states carrying non-Abelian isospin charges, is here investigated for any inclusive cross section in the SU(2) x U(1) symmetric limit, that is appropriate for energies much higher than the weak scale. We develop a general formalism allowing to calculate the all order double log resummed cross sections once the hard (tree level) ones are known. The relevant cases of fermion-fermion, fermion-boson and boson-boson scattering are discussed. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.