# Accreting White Dwarfs: An Unreview

## TL;DR

This paper explores unresolved questions about accreting white dwarfs to guide future research on accretion physics in astrophysical systems.

## Contribution

The paper highlights unknowns in accreting white dwarf systems and proposes ways to address them through new research.

## Key findings

- The mechanisms driving viscosity in neutral disks of AWDs remain unclear.
- The launch and feedback of powerful winds in AWDs are not well understood.
- Persistent retrograde precession and magnetic bursts in AWDs lack a clear explanation.

## Abstract

Accreting white dwarfs (AWDs) are among the best natural laboratories for understanding disk accretion. Their proximity, brightness, and purely classical nature make them ideal systems in which to probe the fundamental physics that governs the transport of angular momentum, the generation of outflows, and the coupling between disks, magnetospheres, and accretors. Yet despite decades of study, many critical questions remain unresolved. In this “unreview”, we therefore focus not on what is known, but on what is unknown. What drives viscosity and sustains accretion in largely neutral disks? How are powerful winds launched, and how do they feed back on the disk and binary evolution? Why do so many systems show persistent retrograde precession, and what drives bursts in magnetic AWDs? By identifying these open problems – and suggesting ways to resolve them – we aim to motivate new observational, numerical, and theoretical efforts that will advance our understanding of accretion physics across all mass scales, from white dwarfs to black holes.