Structure of irreducibly covariant quantum channels for finite groups

We obtain an explicit characterization of linear maps, in particular, quantum channels, which are covariant with respect to an irreducible representation ($U$) of a finite group ($G$), whenever $U \otimes U^c$ is simply reducible (with $U^c$ being the contragradient representation). Using the theory of group representations, we obtain the spectral decomposition of any such linear map. The eigenvalues and orthogonal projections arising in this decomposition are expressed entirely in terms of representation characteristics of the group $G$. This in turn yields necessary and sufficient conditions on the eigenvalues of any such linear map for it to be a quantum channel. We also obtain a wide class of quantum channels which are irreducibly covariant by construction. For two-dimensional irrreducible representations of the symmetric group $S(3)$, and the quaternion group $Q$, we also characterize quantum channels which are both irreducibly covariant and entanglement breaking.