Covariant derivative for four velocity

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Kyrios
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Homework Statement


Show [itex]U^a \nabla_a U^b = 0[/itex]

Homework Equations


[itex]U^a[/itex] refers to 4-velocity so [itex]U^0 =\gamma[/itex] and [itex]U^{1 - 3} = \gamma v^{1 - 3}[/itex]

The Attempt at a Solution



I get as far as this:

[itex]U^a \nabla_a U^b = U^a ( \partial_a U^b + \Gamma^b_{c a} U^c)[/itex]
And I think that the Christoffel symbol is 0 in minkowski space so that gives:
[itex]U^a \partial_a U^b[/itex]

And I'm not certain what to do from this point
 
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Is this the problem statement exactly as given. At face value it just looks like the 4-acceleration which by no means needs to be zero.
 
Yes this is all that was given, unfortunately, so I'm having trouble explaining why exactly it is zero