Southeast Arrow in LaTeX (\searrow)

Where it is used

Draws a diagonal arrow pointing down and to the right, for decreasing trends and diagram edges.

\searrow often abbreviates "decreases to", as in \varepsilon_n \searrow 0 for a monotone decreasing sequence. It complements \nearrow, \swarrow, and \nwarrow in informal diagrams, such as a 2 by 2 grid of objects. Physicists use it in sketches of energy levels or decay chains. The arrows are fixed size, so they suit quick inline use rather than polished diagrams. The name stands for southeast, not search. Readers new to it may expect a search icon, so a brief definition helps. In tables summarizing monotonicity, \nearrow and \searrow give a compact visual.

Minimal compilable example

Paste this into an empty .tex file and compile it with pdfLaTeX, XeLaTeX or LuaLaTeX.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\begin{document}
Southeast Arrow: $\searrow$

\[ \varepsilon_n \searrow 0 \quad \text{as } n \to \infty \]
\end{document}

Related symbols

• Left Harpoon Up\leftharpoonup
• Hook Right Arrow\hookrightarrow
• Right Harpoon Up\rightharpoonup
• Hook Left Arrow\hookleftarrow
• Southwest Arrow\swarrow
• Northeast Arrow\nearrow

Frequently asked questions

How do I write Southeast Arrow in LaTeX?

Type \searrow in math mode, for example $\varepsilon_n \searrow 0 \quad \text{as } n \to \infty$. It works in plain LaTeX without loading any package.

Which package do I need for \searrow?

None. \searrow is part of standard LaTeX, so it compiles with nothing in the preamble but the document class.

Can I use \searrow in text mode, or only in math mode?

Only in math mode. Outside $...$ LaTeX stops with "Missing $ inserted", so write $\searrow$ in running text. If you only need the glyph in text, paste the Unicode character ↘ instead (with XeLaTeX or LuaLaTeX and a font that has it).