Absolute parameters of early-type close binaries in the LMC

A project is presented which aims at high-precision determination of absolute parameters of close early-type eclipsing binaries in the LMC. We will use multi-object spectrographs (MOS) to measure RV curves of a large number of program stars selected from the MACHO archive. Spectroscopic mass ratios will be used as input for our light curve analysis code MORO. Application of the Simplex-based algorithm FITSB2 will achieve spectrum disentangling and fitting of NLTE model (TLUSTY) atmospheres, yielding orbital and atmospheric parameters. The method was extensively tested by application to time series of synthetic binary spectra for the expected range of S/N and MOS instrumental resolution. log g and T (eff) were reestablished with a precision of better than 5%, radial velocity amplitudes with errors of < 3%. An important by-product of our project will be the improvement of the distance modulus of the LMC, a topic which is still being intensely discussed.