Test Particle Stability and the Eccentricity of Multiplanet Systems

It has been shown that the outer solar system is marginally stable to test particles. We hypothesize that typical detected multiplanet extrasolar systems may be similar to our own solar system, such that test particle stability may be used to predict the eccentricity of compact systems. We present results from ongoing work using a combination of N-body simulations and previous analytic results in order to predict the critical eccentricity for a given period ratio between two planets. If our hypothesis is true, this may have implications for the final stages of planet formation.