Monte carlo study of the physics performance of a digital hadronic calorimeter

A digital hadronic calorimeter using MICROMEGAS as active elements is a very promising choice for particle physics experiments at future lepton colliders. These experiments will be optimized for application of the particle flow algorithm and therefore require calorimeters with very fine lateral segmentation. A 1 m(2) prototype based on MICROMEGAS chambers with 1 x 1 cm(2) readout pads is currently being developed at LAPP. The GEANT4 simulation of the physics performance of a MICROMEGAS calorimeter is presented. The main characteristics, such as energy resolution, linearity and shower profile, have been carefully examined for various passive materials with pions over a wide energy range from 3 to 200 GeV. The emphasis is put on the comparison of the analog and digital readout.