Extractingαsfrom electron-positron annihilation around 10 GeV

The total cross section for electron-positron annihilation into hadrons is calculated in the region just below the $B$ meson threshold. QCD corrections up to third order, quark mass effects, initial state radiation, the running of ${\alpha }_{\mathrm{QED}},$ and the tails of the ${\rm Y}$ resonances are included in the prediction. For a given ${\alpha }_s$ the prediction is accurate to 0.5%. An experimental measurement with the corresponding precision would allow us to determine ${\alpha }_s$ with a high accuracy at intermediate energies.