Compactness in Dimension Five and Equivariant Noncompactness for the CR Yamabe Problem

Abstract: We study compactness and noncompactness phenomena for the CR Yamabe equation on compact strictly pseudoconvex CR manifolds. First, in dimension five we establish uniform \emph{a priori} estimates for families of positive solutions of subcritical equations for the conformal CR sub-Laplacian [ L_{J}u = u^{p}, ] with $p$ bounded away from the critical exponent, assuming positivity of the CR Yamabe constant and positivity of the $p$-mass at every point. As a consequence, the corresponding set of solutions is precompact in Hölder topologies. Secondly, we consider the equivariant CR Yamabe problem for a compact subgroup $G$ of pseudo-Hermitian transformations. We construct a $G$-invariant CR structure on $S<sup>{3}$, not equivalent to the standard one, for which the associated CR Yamabe equation admits a sequence of $G$-invariant solutions whose maxima diverge, thereby proving noncompactness in the equivariant setting. The arguments combine a Pohozaev-type identity in pseudohermitian normal coordinates with a blow-up analysis and Liouville-type classification results on the Heisenberg group.