One-loop integrands can be written in terms of a simple, process-independent basis. We show that a similar basis exists for integrands of phase-space integrals for the real-emission contribution at next-to-leading order. Our demonstration deploys techniques from computational algebraic geometry to partial-fraction integrands in a systematic way. This takes the first step towards a decomposition of phase-space integrals in terms of a basis of master integrals.

59 pages, 4 figures, final journal version