From August 29 to September 7, 2006, a large group of distinguished lecturers and young physicists coming from various countries around the world met in Erice, Italy, at the Ettore Majorana Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture (EMFCSC) for the 44th course of the International School of Subnuclear Physics: “The Logic of Nature, Complexity and New Physics: From Quark-Gluon Plasma to Superstrings, Quantum Gravity and Beyond”.This book is a collection of lectures given during the course, covering the most recent advances in theoretical physics and the latest results from current experimental facilities. Following one of the aims of the School, which is to encourage and promote young physicists to achieve recognition at an international level, the students who have distinguished themselves for their excellence in research have been given the opportunity to publish their presentations in this volume.
