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Acknowledgments

It is a pleasure to acknowledge that I became interested in the field of atomic clusters after the insightful suggestion of Professor L. A. Girifalco. Support of my research over the years by Spanish agencies (CAICYT, DGICYT, DGES, MCYT) allowed me to stay active in the field. In particular, I acknowledge the support from projects PB98-0345 and MAT2002-04499-C02-01 during the preparation of this book. A substantial part has been written during my sabbatical stay...