how to pass args for archive.php query?

The pre_get_posts hook can be used to modify queries before they’re run. You can use $query->set() to set arguments on the WP_Query object, and $query->is_main_query() in the callback to limit your changes to the main query:

add_action(
    'pre_get_posts',
    function( $query ) {
        if ( ! is_admin() && $query->is_main_query() ) {
            $query->set( 'posts_per_page', 12 );
        }
    }
);

You can’t target specific templates, but if you want the change to only affect archives, you can use $query->is_archive(), which will be true for date, taxonomy and post type archives, or if you only want to apply the changes to the category archives, you can use $query->is_category(). Many of the normal conditional functions are available as methods for checking the current query.