Perfect-fluid alignment in a static spacetime ($u^a=k^a/\sqrt{k^b{k}_b}$)

For metric signature $(+---)$, a perfect fluid has $T_{ab}=(\rho +p)u_a{u}_b-p{g}_{ab}$. The Einstein field equations and static Killing field is a Ricci eigenvector imply $(\rho +p)(k\cdot u)u_{[a}{k}_{b]}=0$. Two nonzero timelike vectors cannot be orthogonal, so $k\cdot u\ne 0$. If $\rho +p\ne 0$, the four-velocity is parallel to the static Killing vector. Choosing both future-directed gives the displayed normalization. For $\rho +p=0$, the stress-energy tensor is proportional to the metric tensor and does not determine a preferred fluid velocity; the strict enthalpy hypothesis is therefore material.