Let $X$ be a curve over $\F_q$ with function field $F$. In this paper, we define a graph for each Hecke operator with fixed ramification. A priori, these graphs can be seen as a convenient language to organize formulas for the action of Hecke operators on automorphic forms. However, they will prove to be a powerful tool for explicit calculations and proofs of finite dimensionality results. We develop a structure theory for certain graphs $G_x$ of unramified Hecke operators, which is of a similar vein to Serre's theory of quotients of Bruhat Tits trees. To be precise, $G_x$ is locally a quotient of a Bruhat Tits tree and has finitely many components. An interpretation of $G_x$ in terms of rank 2 bundles on $X$ and methods from reduction theory show that $G_x$ is the union of finitely many cusps, which are infinite subgraphs of a simple nature, and a nucleus, which is a finite subgraph that depends heavily on the arithmetics of $F$. We describe how one recovers unramified automorphic forms as functions on the graphs $G_x$. In the exemplary cases of the cuspidal and the toroidal condition, we show how a linear condition on functions on $G_x$ leads to a finite dimensionality result. In particular, we re-obtain the finite-dimensionality of the space of unramified cusp forms and the space of unramified toroidal automorphic forms. In an Appendix, we calculate a variety of examples of graphs over rational function fields.

36 pages