  Cold atoms bring new opportunities to study quantum magnetism, and in
particular, to simulate quantum magnets with symmetry greater than $SU(2)$.
Here we explore the topological excitations which arise in a model of cold
atoms on the triangular lattice with $SU(3)$ symmetry. Using a combination of
homotopy analysis and analytic field-theory we identify a new family of
solitonic wave functions characterised by integer charge ${\bf Q} = (Q_A, Q_B,
Q_C)$, with $Q_A + Q_B + Q_C = 0$. We use a numerical approach, based on a
variational wave function, to explore the stability of these solitons on a
finite lattice. We find that, while solitons with charge ${\bf Q} = (Q, -Q, 0)$
are stable, wave functions with more general charge spontaneously decay into
pairs of solitons with emergent interactions. This result suggests that it
could be possible to realise a new class of interacting soliton, with no
classical analogue, using cold atoms. It also suggests the possibility of a new
form of quantum spin liquid, with gauge--group U(1)$\times$U(1).
