Hyperfine effects on collisional line shape. I. A self-consistent set of equations

We show that the treatment available in the literature for calculating hyperfine effects on collisional line shape is affected by an error making the theory not self-consistent. By correcting such an error we show that the two hyperfine effects on the line shape, modification of the resolved components and collisional coupling between them, cancel each other when hyperfine structure collapses into a single line. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics.