Two-stage disruption of resonant chains
The study investigates how resonant chains of close-in planets break apart over about 100 million years through a two-stage process. First, small impacts excite the planets' eccentricities by a few percent. Second, these excited eccentricities trigger dynamical instability on the same timescale, leading to chaos and collisions that disrupt the chain. This explains why resonance incidence declines and systems become dynamically hot or cold.