Supersonic jet investigations of the (HBr)(2) dimer have been carried out using a tunable diode laser spectrometer to provide accurate data for comparison with results from a four-dimensional (4-D) ab initio potential energy surface (PES). The near-infrared nu(1)(+/-), nu(2)(+/-), and (nu(1)+nu(4))(-) bands of (H Br-79)(2), (H Br-79-H Br-81), and (H Br-81)(2) isotopomers have been recorded in the range 2500-2600 cm-1 using a CW slit jet expansion with an upgraded near-infrared diode laser spectrometer. The 4-D PES has been calculated for (HBr)(2) using second-order Moller-Plesset perturbation theory with an augmented and polarized 6-311G basis set. The potential is characterized by a global minimum occurring at the H bond structure with the distance between the center of masses (CM) of the monomer being R-CM=4.10 A with angles theta(A)=10degrees, theta(B)=100degrees and a well depth of 692.2 cm-1, theta(A) is the angle the HBr bond of monomer A makes with the vector from the CM of A to the CM of B, and theta(B) is the corresponding angle monomer B makes with the same CM-CM vector. The barrier for the H interchange occurs at the closed C-2h structure for which R-CM=4.07 A, theta(A)=45degrees, theta(B)=135degrees, and the barrier height is 73.9 cm-1. The PES was fitted using a linear-least squares method and the rovibrational energy levels of the complex were calculated by a split pseudospectral method. The spectroscopic data provide accurate molecular parameters for the dimer that are then compared with the results predicted on the basis of the 4-D ab initio PES. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.