I wonder what the easiest to prove example of a, b irrational with a^b rational is?
The easiest I can think of offhand would be e^log(2). To prove that we need to prove that e is irrational and the log(2) is irrational.
To prove log(2) is irrational one approach is to prove that e^r is irrational for rational r != 0, which would imply that if log(2) is rational then e^log(2) would be irrational. To prove that e^r is irrational for irrational r it suffices to prove that e^n is irrational for all positive integers n.
We'd also get the e is irrational out of that by taking n = 1, and that would complete our proof that e^log(2) is an example of irrational a, b with a^b rational.
So, all we need now is a proof that e^n is irrational for integers n > 0.
The techniques used in Niven's simple proof that pi is irrational, which was discussed here [1], can be generalized to e^n. You can find that proof in Niven's book "Irrational Numbers" or in Aigner & Ziegler's "Proofs from THE BOOK".
That can also be proved by proving that e is transcendental. Normally proofs that specific numbers are transcendental (other than numbers specifically constructed to be transcendental) are fairly advanced but for e you can do it with first year undergraduate calculus. There's a chapter in Spivak's "Calculus" that does it, and there's a proof in the aforementioned "Irrational Numbers".
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41178560