The Kepler mission has recently discovered a number of exoplanetary systems,
such as Kepler-11 and Kepler-32, in which ensembles of several planets are
found in very closely packed orbits (often within a few percent of an AU of one
another). These compact configurations present a challenge for traditional
planet formation and migration scenarios. We present a dynamical study of the
assembly of these systems, using an N-body method which incorporates a
parametrized model of planet migration in a turbulent protoplanetary disc. We
explore a wide parameter space, and find that under suitable conditions it is
possible to form compact, close-packed planetary systems via traditional
disc-driven migration. We find that simultaneous migration of multiple planets
is a viable mechanism for the assembly of tightly-packed planetary systems, as
long as the disc provides significant eccentricity damping and the level of
turbulence in the disc is modest. We discuss the implications of our preferred
parameters for the protoplanetary discs in which these systems formed, and
comment on the occurrence and significance of mean-motion resonances in our
simulations.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables. Accepted for publication in Monthly
Notices of the Royal Astronomical Societ
