Unified results of compactness and existence for prescribing fractional $Q$-curvatures problem

In this paper we study the problem of prescribing fractional $Q$-curvature of order $2\sigma$ for a conformal metric on the standard sphere $\text{Sn}$ with $\sigma \in (0,n\mathrm{/}2)$ and $n\ge 2$. Compactness and existence results are obtained in terms of the flatness order $\beta$ of the prescribed curvature function $K$. Making use of integral representations and perturbation result, we develop a unified approach to obtain these results when $\beta \in [n-2\sigma ,n)$ for all $\sigma \in (0,n\mathrm{/}2)$. This work generalizes the corresponding results of Jin-Li-Xiong [Math. Ann. 369: 109–151, 2017] for $\beta \in (n-2\sigma ,n)$.