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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 October 2007
Near-separatrix motion is a kind of motion of two planets with their relative apsidal longitude near the boundary between libration and circulation. Observed multiple planetary systems seem to favor near-separatrix motions between neighboring planets. In this report, we study the probability that near-separatrix motion occurs with both the linear secular system and full three-body systems. We find that generally the ratio of near-separatrix motion is small unless the eccentricities of the two planets differ from each other by an order of magintude, or they are in mean motion resonance. To explore the dynamical procedures causing the near-separatrix motion, we suppose a modification to scattering model by adding a mass-accretion process during the protoplanet growth. Statistics on the modified scattering model indicate that the probability of the final planet pairs in near-separatrix motion is high (∼ 85%), which may explain the high occurrence of near-separatrix motions in observed planetary systems.