Lifting covers of sofic shifts (Q1386706)

A cover of a sofic shift \(S\) is a factor map \(\varphi:\sigma_{A}\to S\), defined on a shift of finite type \(\Sigma_{A}\). \(\varphi\) factors through \(\gamma:\Sigma_{B}\to S\) if there exists a factor map \(\beta:\Sigma_{A}\to\Sigma_{B}\) such that \(\varphi=\gamma\beta\). If \(\beta\) is a topological conjugacy we say that \(\varphi\) is conjugate over \(S\) to \(\gamma\). We have thus an equivalence relation on covers of \(S\). An equivalence class is called \(S\)-conjugacy class. The author proves that an irreducible sofic shift \(S\) has only finitely many \(S\)-conjugacy classes of minimal left or right lifting covers. The number of these classes is a computable conjugacy invariant of \(S\). Moreover, every left lifting cover factors through a minimal left lifting cover ( a cover \(\varphi\) is minimal if whenever \(\varphi\) factors through a cover \(\gamma\) by a map \(\beta\), it follows that \(\beta\) must be a conjugacy).