Direct measurement of the J/ psi leptonic branching fraction.

The Mark III Collaboration has measured the {ital J}/{psi} leptonic branching fractions using the process {psi}(2{ital S}){r arrow}{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup {minus}}{ital J}/{psi}, {ital J}/{psi}{r arrow}{ital l}{sup +}{ital l{minus}}. The results are {ital B}({ital J}/{psi}{r arrow}{ital e}{sup +}{ital e{minus}})=(5.92{plus minus}0.15{plus minus}0.20)% and {ital B}({ital J}/{psi}{r arrow}{mu}{sup +}{mu}{sup {minus}})=(5.90{plus minus}0.15{plus minus}0.19)%, where the first error is statistical and the second is systematic. Assuming lepton universality, the leptonic branching fraction of the {ital J}/{psi} is (5.91{plus minus}0.11{plus minus}0.20)%. This result is used to obtain the strong coupling constant {alpha}{sub {ital s}} and the QCD scale factor {Lambda}{sub MS} (M{bar S} denotes the modified minimal-subtraction scheme).