The BFKL Pomeron within Physical Renormalization Schemes and Scales

In this lecture the next-to-leading order (NLO) corrections to the QCD Pomeron intercept obtained from the Balitsky-Fadin-Kuraev-Lipatov (BFKL) equation are discussed. It is shown that the BFKL Pomeron intercept when evaluated in non-Abelian physical renormalization schemes with Brodsky-Lepage-Mackenzie (BLM) optimal scale setting does not exhibit the serious problems encountered in the modified minimal subtraction (bar{MS}) scheme. The results obtained provide an opportunity for applications of the NLO BFKL resummation to high-energy phenomenology. One of such applications for virtual gamma-gamma total cross section shows a good agreement with preliminary data at CERN LEP.