Comment on Communication: Is directed percolation in colloid-polymer mixtures linked to dynamic arrest? [J. Chem. Phys. 148, 241101 (2018)]

In their Communication [J. Chem. Phys. 148, 241101 (2018)], Richard et al. state that in the work of Kohl et al. [Nat. Commun. 7, 11817 (2016)], a mechanism for dynamical arrest in temporal networks has been proposed that actually has never been proposed (and would be obviously wrong) in this context. The actual findings of Kohl et al. are not tested nor affected by the communication. The work of Richard et al. rests on simulations in a regime of the phase diagram that significantly differs from the one that Kohl et al. consider. In this Comment, it is shown that both the effective density and the rescaled second virial coefficient indicate that the comparison presented by Richard et al. is invalid. Therefore, the implications that are based on this comparison are incorrect. There is no indication for a disagreement between the simulations of Richard et al. and those of Kohl et al., and I am confident that upon consistent comparison and interpretation of the results, both works can contribute to a more comprehensive picture of gel-forming systems. Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing.

Automated summary

In this comment, it is pointed out that the comparison made by Richard et al. is invalid, leading to incorrect implications. However, the author believes that through proper comparison and interpretation of results, both works can still contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of gel-forming systems.