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Recent analyses of Kepler exoplanet data have reported a dichotomy in the eccentricity distribution displayed by systems where a single planet transits compared with that displayed by multi-planet systems. In this talk, I will present an N-body simulation study that examines the hypothesis that the dichotomy has arisen because inner systems of super-Earths are frequently accompanied by outer systems of giant planets that can become dynamically unstable and perturb the inner systems. Different from previous studies, the outer giants that we consider have masses between those of Neptune and Saturn, and are centred on orbital radii between 2 to 10 au, placing them below the present RV detection threshold. Our results show that the observed eccentricity dichotomy can be reproduced by a subset of the N-body simulations when they are synthetically observed, and that the multiplicity distribution of the Kepler systems can also be approximately reproduced. Our study suggests that an understanding of the observed orbital and physical properties of the compact systems of super-Earths discovered by Kepler, and which will be discovered by other future transit surveys, require holistic modelling that couples the dynamics of both inner and outer systems of planets during and after the epoch of formation.

On the origin of the eccentricity dichotomy displayed by compact super-Earths: dynamical heating by cold giants