  We report the results of first-principles density functional theory
calculations of the Young's modulus and other mechanical properties of
hydrogen-passivated Si <001> nanowires. The nanowires are taken to have
predominantly {100} surfaces, with small {110} facets. The Young's modulus, the
equilibrium length and the residual stress of a series of prismatic wires are
found to have a size dependence that scales like the surface area to volume
ratio for all but the smallest wires. We analyze the physical origin of the
size dependence, and compare the results to two existing models.
