Determination of ±s from a differential-jet-multiplicity distribution in e+e- collisions at ss =29 and 91 GeV

We measured the differential jet-multiplicity distribution in {ital e}{sup +}{ital e}{sup {minus}} annihilation with the Mark II detector. This distribution is compared with the second-order QCD prediction and {alpha}{sub {ital s}} is determined to be 0.123{plus minus}0.009{plus minus}0.005 at {radical}{ital s}{approx}{ital M}{sub {ital Z}} (at the SLAC Linear Collider) and 0.149{plus minus}0.002{plus minus}0.007 at {radical}{ital s}=29 GeV (at the SLAC storage ring PEP). The running of {alpha}{sub {ital s}} between these two center-of-mass energies is consistent with the QCD prediction.