grandes-ecoles 2024 Q1
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For a strictly positive rational number $a \in \mathbf{Q}_{>0}$, let $\log(a)$ denote the unique real number satisfying $e^{\log a} = a$. Deduce from Theorem 1 that $\log(a)$ is irrational for every strictly positive rational number $a \neq 1$.
(Theorem 1: Let $r \geq 2$ be an integer. If $a_1, \ldots, a_r \in \mathbf{Q}$ are distinct rational numbers, then the real numbers $e^{a_1}, \ldots, e^{a_r}$ are linearly independent over $\mathbf{Q}$.)