Criteria for irrationality, linear independence, transcendence and algebraic independence

For proving linear independence of real numbers, Hermite [6] considered simultaneous approximation to these numbers by algebraic numbers. The point of view introduced by Siegel in 1929 [14] is dual (duality in the sense of convex bodies): he considers simultaneous approximation by means of independent linear forms. We define the height of a linear form L = a0X0 + · · · + amXm with complex coefficients by