A cataclysmic variable is a close binary in which a Roche-lobe-filling low-mass star transfers matter to a white dwarf. Angular-momentum loss drives long-term transfer, while unstable burning of accumulated hydrogen produces classical novae.
A magnetized wind removes spin angular momentum from a cool donor star. Tidal synchronization replenishes that spin from the orbit, so the wind indirectly removes orbital angular momentum and drives the binary toward shorter separation.
In isotropic re-emission, transferred mass is expelled from the vicinity of the accretor and carries the accretor's specific orbital angular momentum. The total binary mass and orbital angular momentum then decrease even though the accretor retains no net mass.
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