Response and shower topology of 2 to 180 GeV pions measured with the ATLAS barrel calorimeter at the CERN test-beam and comparison to Monte Carlo simulations

The response of the ATLAS barrel calorimeter to pions with momenta from $2$ to $180$~GeV~ is studied in a test--beam at the CERN H8 beam line. %Various methods to reconstruct the deposited pion energies are studied. The mean energy, the energy resolution and the longitudinal and radial shower profiles, and, various observables characterising the shower topology in the calorimeter are measured. The data are compared to Monte Carlo simulations based on a detailed description of the experimental set--up and on various models describing the interaction of particles with matter based on Geant4.