A Uniform Atmospheric Retrieval Analysis of Ultra-cool Dwarfs: A Statistical Census from 50 Late-T Dwarfs

Atmospheric characterization of both brown dwarfs and exoplanets has seen immense growth within the last decade. However, many challenges still remain in developing and comparing accurate models of their diverse atmospheric processes to observational data. Borrowing from the success of planetary solar system studies, the technique of atmospheric retrieval has shown to be adept in deriving new knowledge on the physics and chemistry of substellar objects. Here I present my work on both developing and comparing the CHIMERA atmospheric retrieval model to space and ground-based observations of brown dwarfs, and how our results compare to previous modeling efforts. First, I highlight the ability of atmospheric retrieval to establish chemical paradigms in the atmospheres of cloud-free Y dwarfs. Next, I show recent work on the measurement of the largest set of retrieved atmospheric properties for the T dwarf class to date. Finally, I detail ongoing efforts in model development and application of CHIMERA to cloudy L dwarfs, and highlight how these modeling efforts impact our understanding of high-mass exoplanetary atmospheres.