Uniformly finite-to-one and onto extensions of homomorphisms between strongly connected graphs

For a homomorphism between directed graphs G"1 and G"2, its extension is the mapping of the set of all paths in G"1 into the set of all paths in G"2 obtained by naturally extending it. We investigate the properties of uniformly finite-to-one and onto extensions of homomorphisms of directed graphs, essentially the properties of uniformly finite-to-one and onto extensions of homomorphisms between strongly connected directed graphs. We also describe applications of our results on homomorphisms of directed graphs to the theory of a class of symbolic flows called subshifts of finite type.