Cholesky factorization, why $A = L L^*$ instead of $A = U U^*$?

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For a positive definite matrix $A$, we have the Cholesky decomposition

$$A = L L^* ,$$

where $L $ is a lower triangular matrix. I am curious why not

$$A = U U^*,$$

where $U $ is an upper triangular matrix. Is it not possible or is it useless?