Abstract
We introduce a continuum approach to studying the lifetimes of monovalent metal nanowires. By modelling the thermal fluctuations of cylindrical nanowires through the use of stochastic Ginzburg-Landau classical field theories, we construct a self-consistent approach to the fluctuation-induced "necking" of nanowires. Our theory provides
quantitative estimates of the lifetimes for alkali metal nanowires
in the conductance range 10 <
/
< 100 (where
= 2
/
is the conductance quantum), and allows us to account for qualitative differences in the
conductance histograms of alkali vs. noble metal nanowires.