  We discuss the spatial properties of quantum radiation emitted by a multipole
transition in a single atom. The qualitative difference between the
representations of plane and spherical waves of photons is examined. In
particular, the spatial inhomogeneity of the zero-point oscillations of
multipole field is shown. We show that the vacuum noise of polarization is
concentrated in a certain vicinity of atoms where it strongly exceeds the level
predicted by the representation of the plane waves. A new general polarization
matrix is proposed. It is shown that the polarization and its vacuum noise
strongly depend on the distance from the source.
