How can we prove by mathematical induction that $1,\sqrt{2}, \sqrt{3}, \sqrt{5},\ldots, \sqrt{p_n}$ ($p_n$ is the $n^{\rm th}$ prime number) are linearly independent over the rational numbers ?
$\underline{\text{base case (n=1)}}$: $1,\sqrt{2}$ are linearly independent over the field $\mathbb{Q}$ otherwise $a1+b\sqrt{2}=0 \Leftrightarrow \sqrt{2}=-\frac{a}{b}$ which is absurd.
Then I am stuck.
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