  Any physical process can be represented as a quantum channel mapping an
initial state to a final state. Hence it can be characterized from the point of
view of communication theory, i.e., in terms of its ability to transfer
information. Quantum information provides a theoretical framework and the
proper mathematical tools to accomplish this. In this context the notion of
codes and communication capacities have been introduced by generalizing them
from the classical Shannon theory of information transmission and error
correction. The underlying assumption of this approach is to consider the
channel not as acting on a single system, but on sequences of systems, which,
when properly initialized allow one to overcome the noisy effects induced by
the physical process under consideration. While most of the work produced so
far has been focused on the case in which a given channel transformation acts
identically and independently on the various elements of the sequence
(memoryless configuration in jargon), correlated error models appear to be a
more realistic way to approach the problem. A slightly different, yet
conceptually related, notion of correlated errors applies to a single quantum
system which evolves continuously in time under the influence of an external
disturbance which acts on it in a non-Markovian fashion. This leads to the
study of memory effects in quantum channels: a fertile ground where interesting
novel phenomena emerge at the intersection of quantum information theory and
other branches of physics. A survey is taken of the field of quantum channels
theory while also embracing these specific and complex settings.
