For a given real number a we define the sequence {E n,a } by E 0,a = 1 and E n,a = −a [n/2] k=1 n 2k E n−2k,a (n ≥ 1), where [x] is the greatest integer not exceeding x. Since E n,1 = E n is the n-th Euler number, E n,a can be viewed as a natural generalization of Euler numbers. In this paper we deduce some identities and an inversion formula involving {E n,a }, and establish congruences for E 2n,a (mod 2 ord 2 n+8 ), E 2n,a (mod 3 ord 3 n+5 ) and E 2n,a (mod 5 ord 5 n+4 ) provided that a is a nonzero integer, where ord p n is the least nonnegative integer α such that p α | n but p α+1 ∤ n.
MSC: 11B68, 11A07