Quantum Fluctuations and Dissipation in Thin Superconducting Wires

We investigate quantum fluctuations in thin superconducting wires. We demonstrate that quantum phase slips dominate the system behavior at low temperatures and are well in the measurable range for sufficiently thin wires. We discuss the effect of dissipation, predict a new quantum superconductor-to-metal (insulator) phase transitions for wires with thicknesses in the 10-nm range, evaluate the resistance R(T) of such wires and compare our results with recent experimental findings.