Mark Armah

(He/Him)

Postdoctoral Fellow

Universidade do Vale do Paraíba (UNIVAP)

Research Profile

I am an extragalactic astrophysicist specializing in the chemical evolution of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) and Seyfert galaxies. My research addresses a fundamental question in galaxy evolution: how do actively accreting supermassive black holes regulate the chemical and physical properties of their host environments? By bridging the gap between intricate multi-dimensional spectroscopic datasets and advanced theoretical photoionization models, I develop custom computational pipelines to untangle AGN radiation from true gas-phase abundances. Ultimately, my work pioneers robust new metallicity calibrations and diagnostic tools that allow wider applications to decode complex AGN feedback mechanisms.
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Education

PhD in Astrophysics

2020-01-01
2025-01-13

Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS)

MSc in Physics & Astronomy

2018-09-01
2020-10-31

Universidade do Vale do Paraíba (UNIVAP)

📚 My Research

I am a FAPESP postdoctoral researcher at Universidade do Vale do Paraíba (UNIVAP) investigating the chemical composition of galaxies. My research focuses on Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs), specifically Seyfert galaxies, and the interplay between gas inflow, outflow, and consumption.

Using the Cloudy spectral synthesis code and photoionization models, I develop metallicity calibrations to accurately determine the chemical abundances in ionized gas. I am particularly interested in how these processes impact galaxy evolution across cosmic time.

Recent Publications
Mark Armah, O.~L. Dors, Rogério Riffel, M.~V. Cardaci, G.~F. Hägele, Rogemar A. Riffel, J.~M. Vı́lchez (2026). Identifying AGNs from X-ray detections-I: Metallicity calibrations in AGNs with X-ray luminosity as the primary input parameter. mnras.
arXiv DOI
O.~L. Dors, C.~B. Oliveira, M.~V. Cardaci, G.~F. Hägele, Mark Armah, R.~A. Riffel, L. Ramos Vieira, G.~C. Almeida, I.~N. Morais, P.~C. Santos (2025). Metallicity of active galactic nuclei from ultraviolet and optical emission lines ─ II. Revisiting the C43 metallicity calibration and its implications. mnras.
arXiv DOI
Mark Armah, Rogério Riffel, L.~G. Dahmer-Hahn, R.~I. Davies, O.~L. Dors, Darshan Kakkad, Rogemar A. Riffel, A. Rodrı́guez-Ardila, D. Ruschel-Dutra, T. Storchi-Bergmann (2024). Spatially resolved gas-phase metallicity in Seyfert galaxies. mnras.
arXiv DOI
Oli L. Dors, M. Valerdi, R.~A. Riffel, R. Riffel, M.~V. Cardaci, G.~F. Hägele, Mark Armah, M. Revalski, S.~R. Flury, P. Freitas-Lemes, E.~B. Amôres, A.~C. Krabbe, L. Binette, A. Feltre, T. Storchi-Bergmann (2023). Chemical abundances in Seyfert galaxies - X. Sulphur abundance estimates. mnras.
arXiv DOI
Mark Armah, Rogério Riffel, O.~L. Dors, Kyuseok Oh, Michael J. Koss, Claudio Ricci, Benny Trakhtenbrot, Mabel Valerdi, Rogemar A. Riffel, Angela C. Krabbe (2023). Oxygen abundances in the narrow line regions of Seyfert galaxies and the metallicity-luminosity relation. mnras.
arXiv DOI
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