  We show that interaction with a gas disk may produce young planetary systems
with closely-spaced orbits, stabilized by mean-motion resonances between
neighbors. On longer timescales, after the gas is gone, interaction with a
remnant planetesimal disk tends to pull these configurations apart, eventually
inducing dynamical instability. We show that this can lead to a variety of
outcomes; some cases resemble the Solar System, while others end up with
high-eccentricity orbits reminiscent of the observed exoplanets. A similar
mechanism has been previously suggested as the cause of the lunar Late Heavy
Bombardment. Thus, it may be that a large-scale dynamical instability, with
more or less cataclysmic results, is an evolutionary step common to many
planetary systems, including our own.
