Observation of Four - Jet Structure in $e^+ e^-$ Annihilation at $\sqrt{s}=33$-{GeV}

Abstract Topological distributions of hadrons from the reaction e + e − → hadrons are studied at center of mass energies of about 33 GeV. The experimental distributions in the parameters acoplanarity and tripodity, both sensitive to events with a four-jet structure, show significant deviations from the expectations for two- and three-jet events. They can be described well by the inclusion of four-jet events. The relative magnitude of the observed effect indicates second order QCD as its probable origin.