Letter to the editor (Q5903020)

\textit{T. Okada} [Acta Arith. 38, 341-345 (1981; Zbl 0397.10025)] and \textit{K. Wang} [J. Number Theory 15, 1-4 (1982; Zbl 0491.10024] have shown that the numbers \(\cot^{(r)}\pi k/n\), \(0<k<n/2\), \((k,n)=1\), are \({\mathbb{Q}}\)- linearly independent for \(r=0,1,2,... \). The proofs are based on the nonvanishing of \(L(r+1,\chi)\) (\(\chi\) a nonprincipal Dirichlet character) and group determinant considerations. For \(r=0\) this result had been known previously. Our aim is to point out that this proposition is quite elementary for \(r\geq 1\).