Comparison of a new calculation of energy-energy correlations with e+e-→ hadrons data at the Z0 resonance

We have compared a new QCD calculation by Clay and Ellis of energy-energy correlations (EEC’s) and their asymmetry (AEEC’s) in e+e- annihilation into hadrons with data collected by the SLD experiment at SLAC. From fits of the new calculation, complete at O(αs2), we obtained αs(MZ2)=0.1184±0.0031(expt)±0.0129(theory) (EEC) and αs(MZ2)=0.1120±0.0034(expt)±0.0036(theory) (AEEC). The EEC result is significantly lower than that obtained from comparable fits using the O(αs2) calculation of Kunszt and Nason.