  The optical properties of excitons confined in initially-unstrained
GaAs/AlGaAs quantum dots are studied as a function of a variable quasi-uniaxial
stress. To allow the validation of state-of-the-art computational tools for
describing the optical properties of nanostructures, we determine the quantum
dot morphology and the in-plane components of externally induced strain tensor
at the quantum dot positions. Based on these \textsl{experimental} parameters,
we calculate the strain-dependent excitonic emission energy, degree of linear
polarization, and fine-structure splitting using a combination of eight-band
${\bf k}\cdot{\bf p}$ formalism with multiparticle corrections using the
configuration interaction method. The experimental observations are
quantitatively well reproduced by our calculations and deviations are
discussed.
