  Interacting binaries are of general interest as laboratories for
investigating the physics of accretion, which gives rise to the bulk of
high-energy radiation in the Galaxy. They allow us to probe stellar evolution
processes that cannot be studied in single stars. Understanding the orbital
evolution of binaries is essential in order to model the formation of compact
binaries. Here we focus our attention on studying orbital evolution driven by
angular momentum loss through stellar winds in massive binaries. We run a suite
of hydrodynamical simulations of binary stars hosting one mass losing star with
varying wind velocity, mass ratio, wind velocity profile and adiabatic index,
and compare our results to analytic estimates for drag and angular momentum
loss. We find that, at leading order, orbital evolution is determined by the
wind velocity and the binary mass ratio. Small ratios of wind to orbital
velocities and large accreting companion masses result in high angular momentum
loss and a shrinking of the orbit. For wider binaries and binaries hosting
lighter mass-capturing companions, the wind mass-loss becomes more symmetric,
which results in a widening of the orbit. We present a simple analytic formula
that can accurately account for angular momentum losses and changes in the
orbit, which depends on the wind velocity and mass ratio. As an example of our
formalism, we compare the effects of tides and winds in driving the orbital
evolution of high mass X-ray binaries, focusing on Vela X-1 and Cygnus X-1 as
examples.
