We consider communication between two parties using a bipartite quantum
operation, which constitutes the most general quantum mechanical model of
two-party communication. We primarily focus on the simultaneous forward and
backward communication of classical messages. For the case in which the two
parties share unlimited prior entanglement, we give inner and outer bounds on
the achievable rate region that generalize classical results due to Shannon. In
particular, using a protocol of Bennett, Harrow, Leung, and Smolin, we give a
one-shot expression in terms of the Holevo information for the
entanglement-assisted one-way capacity of a two-way quantum channel. As
applications, we rederive two known additivity results for one-way channel
capacities: the entanglement-assisted capacity of a general one-way channel,
and the unassisted capacity of an entanglement-breaking one-way channel.
