The Structure of $^{28}$Mg from the $^{26}$Mg(t,p)$^{28}$Mg reaction

We have studied the neutron rich isotope $^{28}$Mg with the $^{26}$Mg(t,p)$^{28}$Mg reaction using HELIOS at Argonne National Laboratory. This nucleus, located outside the ``Island of Inversion'', can be used as a bridge to understanding the rapidly changing nuclear properties in the region. A beam of $^{26}$Mg produced by the ATLAS accelerator facility at ANL bombarded a tritiated titanium foil at an energy of 6MeV/u. Here, low-lying 0$^+$ states populated with the (t,p) reaction are sensitive to shape coexistence and configuration mixing. The reaction was conducted in inverse kinematics with heavy recoil coincidence provided by an array of E-$\Delta$E detectors, while protons were detected with HELIOS. The data were acquired with a digital acquisition system and pulse shape analysis algorithms were used to refine the timing resolution. Several calculations of the properties of magnesium isotopes with A=24 to 34, including those done with state of the art shell model, Relativistic Mean Field and Beyond Mean Field frameworks, show the evolution from normal to inverted deformed hierarchy. Analysis is in progress and preliminary results will be presented.