Optimisation of clustering algorithms for the reconstruction of events started by a 1 GeV photon beam in a segmented BGO calorimeter

Three different clustering algorithms have been implemented to reconstruct the response of a segmented BGO calorimeter to electromagnetic showers and hadrons. The ability of each algorithm to identify the number of interacting particles and to attribute to each particle the appropriate energy, has been assessed by comparison to various reactions simulated with the GEANT code. General considerations on the calorimeter response are made. A few significant reaction channels are discussed in detail as regards cluster identification and background reduction with each clustering technique.