2024ApJ...975...59M

We present a new grid of cloudy atmosphere and evolution models for substellar objects. These models include the effect of refractory cloud species, including silicate clouds, on the spectra and evolution. We include effective temperatures from 900 to 2400 K and surface gravities from log g = 3.5 to 5.5, appropriate for a broad range of objects with masses between 1 and 84M_J. Model pressure-temperature structures are calculated assuming radiative-convective and chemical equilibrium. We consider the effect of both clouds and metallicity on the atmospheric structure, resulting spectra, and thermal evolution of substellar worlds. We parameterize clouds using the A. S. Ackerman & M. S. Marley cloud model, including cloud parameter f_sed values from 1 to 8; we include three metallicities (-0.5, 0.0, and +0.5). Refractory clouds and metallicity both alter the evolution of substellar objects, changing the inferred temperature at a given age by up to 100-200 K. For solar-metallicity evolution models including clouds in warm objects, we find a hydrogen-burning minimum mass of 70.2M_J, close to empirical measurements; we find a deuterium-burning minimum mass of 12.05 M_J (50% of initial D burned). We compare to the observed photometry of brown dwarfs, finding broad agreement with the measured photometry. We publish the spectra, evolution, and other data products online with open access on Zenodo (doi:10.5281/zenodo.12735103).