Unexpected Near-Resonant and Metastable States of Young Multiplanet Systems

Abstract Recent observations suggest that the incidence of near-resonant planets declines as planetary systems age, making young planetary systems key signposts of early dynamical evolution. Here we investigate the dynamical states of three of the youngest multitransiting planetary systems: AU Mic (three-planet, ∼20 Myr old), V1298 Tau (four-planet, ∼23 Myr old), and TOI-2076 (four-planet, ∼200 Myr old). We find that most planet pairs in these systems lie near resonance with circulating rather than librating resonant angles. As a result, they are more susceptible to dynamical chaos than systems that are either securely locked in resonance or far removed from it. Even modest eccentricities of 0.04–0.08 may drive them to instability on timescales of tens to hundreds of Myr. Moreover, the observed orbital architectures are vulnerable to eccentricity excitation through mechanisms such as divergent resonance crossing triggered by planetesimal scattering. The observed near-resonant state may represent a transitional phase between a librating resonant chain and a mature nonresonant planetary system. Finally, we briefly discuss mechanisms that could give rise to the observed near-resonant configurations, including overstable libration, disk turbulence, and receding disk inner edge.