Integrable deformations of string sigma models and generalized supergravity

Abstract: This thesis is mainly devoted to studying integrable deformations of the ${\rm AdS}_5 \times {\rm S}^5$ superstring and generalized supergravity. We start to give a brief review of the ${\rm AdS}_5 \times {\rm S}^5$ superstring formulated in the Green-Schwartz formalism, and then introduce homogeneous Yang-Baxter (YB) deformation of the ${\rm AdS}_5 \times {\rm S}^5$ superstring based on $r$-matrices which are solutions to the homogeneous classical YB equation. By performing a supercoset construction, we derive the general formula for homogeneous YB deformed backgrounds associated with bosonic $r$-matrices. The deformed backgrounds are shown to be solutions of the standard type IIB supergravity or generalized supergravity. Next, we explain that homogeneous YB deformation can be regarded as a kind of the $O(d,d)$ duality transformations. Once YB deformations are realized as duality transformations, the corresponding $O(d,d)$ transformations are applied to almost all backgrounds. Moreover, we discuss spacetime structures of homogeneous YB deformed backgrounds and clarify a T-fold structure of them by showing the associated $O(d,d; \mathbb{Z})$ $T$-duality monodromy. Finally, we consider the Weyl invariance of string theories in generalized supergravity backgrounds. We show that generalized supergravity can be reproduced from double field theory with the dilaton depending on a linear dual coordinate. From this result, we construct a possible counterterm to cancel out the Weyl anomaly of bosonic string theories on generalized supergravity backgrounds. In particular, we show that the counterterm is definitely local. In this sense, string theories can be consistently defined in generalized supergravity backgrounds.