Architecture matters: a three-perturber system sculpts a deeper detached trans-Neptunian tail than a single body of equal mass

Preprint (not peer-reviewed). We test whether the architecture of a distant perturbing system — how a fixed total mass is distributed among one or several bodies — affects its ability to sculpt the detached trans-Neptunian population, using 100 Myr symplectic N-body simulations. Comparing four perturber configurations at fixed total mass across three disc realisations, we find that a three-body system produces a deep detached tail (perihelion q > 50 au) 2.4× larger than a single body of equal mass (153 ± 2 vs 63 ± 9), and that orbital eccentricity is a comparably strong driver. This is a test of mechanism, not a fit to the observed population. This work supersedes and is methodologically independent from an earlier, withdrawn manuscript by the author. This is a preliminary mechanism study; alternative explanations for the detached population and a full parameter exploration will be addressed in a forthcoming revised version.