 Binary mass-ratio reversal

During binary mass-ratio reversal, an initially more massive donor star loses enough material that its companion becomes the more massive member. The stars retain their different prior nuclear evolution, resolving the Algol paradox. Conservative binary mass transfer shrinks the orbit before equal masses and widens it after reversal, because $a\propto (M_d{M}_a{)}^{-2}$ at fixed total mass and orbital angular momentum.