We investigate the problem of type isomorphisms in a programming language
with higher-order references. We first recall the game-theoretic model of
higher-order references by Abramsky, Honda and McCusker. Solving an open
problem by Laurent, we show that two finitely branching arenas are isomorphic
if and only if they are geometrically the same, up to renaming of moves
(Laurent's forest isomorphism). We deduce from this an equational theory
characterizing isomorphisms of types in a finitary language with higher order
references. We show however that Laurent's conjecture does not hold on
infinitely branching arenas, yielding a non-trivial type isomorphism in the
extension of this language with natural numbers.Comment: Twenty-Sixth Annual IEEE Symposium on Logic In Computer Science (LICS
2011), Toronto : Canada (2011