The next-to-leading order corrections to rho meson electromagnetic form factors in the $k_T$ factorization approach

In this paper we calculate the next-to-leading-order (NLO) corrections to $\rho$-meson electromagnetic form factors by employing the $k_T$ factorization approach. We find that the NLO correction to $F_i (Q^2)(i=LT,TL)$ is around $30\%$ of the leading-order (LO) contributionin the region $Q^2>2GeV^2$. The NLO correction to $F_{LL}(Q^2)$ is close to $20\%$ of the LO one in the region $Q^2>3GeV^2$. The NLO radiative corrections to the electric, magnetic, and quadruple form factors $F_j(Q^2) (j=1,2,3)$ are sizeable in magnitude and agree with those from other approaches.