On the KG-constrained Bekenstein's disformal transformation of the Einstein-Hilbert action

Motivated by an inclination for symmetry and possible extension of the General Theory of Relativity within the framework of Scalar Theory, we investigate the Bekenstein's disformal transformation of the Einstein-Hilbert action. Owing to the complicated combinations of second order metric derivatives encoded in the Ricci scalar of the action, such a transformation yields an unwieldy expression. To `tame' the transformed action, we exploit the conformal-disformal (KG) constraint previously discovered in the study of the invariance of the massless Klein-Gordon equation under disformal transformation. The result upon its application is a surprisingly much more concise and simple action in four spacetime dimensions containing three out of four sub-Lagrangians found in the Horndeski action, and three beyond-Horndeski terms. The latter group of terms may be attributed to the kinetic dependence of the conformal and disformal factors in the Bekenstein's disformal transformation. This is consistent with a related study on the special disformal transformation of the Einstein-Hilbert action where no such beyond-Horndeski terms are found to exist. Going down to three dimensions, we find a relatively simpler resulting action but the signature of three three `extraneous' terms remains. Remarkably, we find in two dimensions the Einstein-Hilbert action to be invariant under the KG-constrained Bekenstein's disformal transformation.