The resonant mechanism of the two planets orbiting GJ 876

In this paper we have performed simulations to investigate the dynamics of the system GJ 876 in an attempt to reveal any stabilising mechanism for maintaining the system. We simulated different coplanar and non-coplanar configurations of the two-planet system. We found that the 2:1 mean motion resonance between the two planets can act as an effective mechanism of maintaining the system. This result is explained by a proposed analytical model.