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 this model, strong magnetic braking of a binary star inflates the mass-losing donor above the cataclysmic-variable period gap. A reduction in the torque near the fully convective star transition allows thermal contraction and detachment. Gravitational-wave emission from a binary system continues to shrink the orbit until contact returns below the gap. The model requires a braking decrease and a previously inflated donor, not disappearance of stellar magnetism. Knigge's review describes this evolutionary picture and observational tests.
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