Comment on "The New F_L Measurement from HERA and the Dipole Model"

Abstract

The upper bound on the ratio of the proton structure functions $F_L/F_2$ tested in the recent paper "The New $F_L$ Measurement from HERA and the Dipole Model", contrary to what is said therein, does not provide a model-independent "rigorous" experimental test of the color-dipole picture. The validity of the theoretical upper bound depends on an ad hoc assumption on the dipole cross section. -- The analysis in the paper "The New $F_L$ Measurement from HERA and the Dipole Model" can be reinterpreted as an additional confirmation of the absolute model-independent prediction from the color-dipole picture of $F_L = 0.27 F_2$.