Abstract
We show that two distinct realizations of the SU(3) symmetry—the Gell-Mann SU(3) symmetry in quark physics and the Elliott SU(3) symmetry in nuclear physics—can be applied to the same dynamical system in intense-field electrodynamics under different experimental conditions. We also present a set of simultaneous soliton solutions in the Elliott SU(3)-symmetry scheme which has not been derived previously.