A cybersecurity expert is verifying a protocol where a security key k k\,k is generated as the quotient k=μσ\displaystyle k = \frac{\mu}{\sigma}k=σμ, where μ \mu\,μ is a non-zero rational coefficient and σ \sigma\,σ is an irrational physical constant. To establish the security of the protocol, the expert wishes to use proof by contradiction to prove the statement:
'The quotient of a non-zero rational number and an irrational number is always irrational.'
Identify the correct starting assumption for the expert's proof.