  We discuss by analytic means the theory of the high-density limit of the
unpolarized two-dimensional electron liquid in the presence of Rashba or
Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling. A generalization of the ring-diagram expansion
is performed. We find that in this regime the spin-orbit coupling leads to
small changes of the exchange and correlation energy contributions, while
modifying also, via repopulation of the momentum states, the noninteracting
energy. As a result, the leading corrections to the chirality and total energy
of the system stem from the Hartree-Fock contributions. The final results are
found to be vanishing to lowest order in the spin-orbit coupling, in agreement
with a general property valid to every order in the electron-electron
interaction. We also show that recent quantum Monte Carlo data in the presence
of Rashba spin-orbit coupling are well understood by neglecting corrections to
the exchange-correlation energy, even at low density values.
