  A kinetic Monte Carlo approach is applied to studying shape instability of
nanowires that results in their breaking up into chains of nanoparticles. Our
approach can be used to explore dynamical features of the process that
correspond to experimental findings, but that cannot be interpreted by
continuum mechanisms reminiscent of the description of the Plateau-Rayleigh
instability in liquid jets. For example, we observe long-lived dumbbell-type
fragments and other typical non-liquid-jet characteristics of the process, as
well as confirm the observed lattice-orientation dependence of the breakup
process of single-crystal nanowires. We provide snapshots of the process
dynamics, and elaborate on the nanowire-end effects, as well as on the
morphology of the resulting nanoparticles.
