Weak gravitational lensing enables direct reconstruction of dark matter maps
over cosmologically significant volumes. This research is currently
telescope-limited. The Dark Matter Telescope (DMT) is a proposed 8.4 m
telescope with a 3 degree field of view, with an etendue of 260 (m.degree)2, ten times greater than any other current or planned telescope. With
its large etendue and dedicated observational mode, the DMT fills a nearly
unexplored region of parameter space and enables projects that would take
decades on current facilities. The DMT will be able to reach 10-sigma limiting
magnitudes of 27-28 magnitude in the wavelength range .3 - 1 um over a 7 square
degree field in 3 nights of dark time. Here we review its unique weak lensing
cosmology capabilities and the design that enables those capabilities.Comment: in-press version with additions; to appear in proceedings of the Dark
Matter 2000 conference (Santa Monica, February 2000) to be published by
Springe
