Inf-sup stability implies quasi-orthogonality

We prove new optimality results for adaptive mesh refinement algorithms for non-symmetric, indefinite, and time-dependent problems by proposing a generalization of quasi-orthogonality which follows directly from the inf-sup stability of the underlying problem. This completely removes a central technical difficulty in modern proofs of optimal convergence of adaptive mesh refinement algorithms and leads to simple optimality proofs for the Taylor-Hood discretization of the stationary Stokes problem, a finite-element/boundary-element discretization of an unbounded transmission problem, and an adaptive time-stepping scheme for parabolic equations. The main technical tools are new stability bounds for the L U LU -factorization of matrices together with a recently established connection between quasi-orthogonality and matrix factorization.