An eclipsing binary distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud accurate to 2
  per cent
  In the era of precision cosmology it is essential to determine the Hubble
Constant with an accuracy of 3% or better. Currently, its uncertainty is
dominated by the uncertainty in the distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud
(LMC) which as the second nearest galaxy serves as the best anchor point of the
cosmic distance scale. Observations of eclipsing binaries offer a unique
opportunity to precisely and accurately measure stellar parameters and
distances. The eclipsing binary method was previously applied to the LMC but
the accuracy of the distance results was hampered by the need to model the
bright, early-type systems used in these studies. Here, we present distance
determinations to eight long-period, late- type eclipsing systems in the LMC
composed of cool giant stars. For such systems we can accurately measure both
the linear and angular sizes of their components and avoid the most important
problems related to the hot early-type systems. Our LMC distance derived from
these systems is demonstrably accurate to 2.2 % (49.97 +/- 0.19 (statistical)
+/- 1.11 (systematic) kpc) providing a firm base for a 3 % determination of the
Hubble Constant, with prospects for improvement to 2 % in the future.
