Quantum Picture of Optical Patterns: Complementarity and Wave-Particle Aspects

We consider a model of degenerate optical parametric oscillator which includes the possibility of an arbitrary level of breaking of the translational symmetry. On the basis of the example of the stripe pattern, we examine the impact of quantum noise on nonlinear optical patterns. We define and focus on the phenomenon of quantum image and show that, in the present example, it is related to the wave and particle aspects of the e.m. radiation.