  Using exact diagonalizations and Green's function Monte Carlo simulations, we
have studied the zero-temperature properties of the quantum dimer model on the
triangular lattice on clusters with up to 588 sites. A detailed comparison of
the properties in different topological sectors as a function of the cluster
size and for different cluster shapes has allowed us to identify different
phases, to show explicitly the presence of topological degeneracy in a phase
close to the Rokhsar-Kivelson point, and to understand finite-size effects
inside this phase. The nature of the various phases has been further
investigated by calculating dimer-dimer correlation functions. The present
results confirm and complement the phase diagram proposed by Moessner and
Sondhi on the basis of finite-temperature simulations [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf
86}, 1881 (2001)].
