everywhere the reference j is encountered, it is replaced with the address of i. So basically the reference content address is resolved at compile time, and there is not need to dereference it like a pointer at run time.
Just to clarify what I mean by the address of i :
void function(int& x)
{
x = 10;
}
int main()
{
int i = 5;
int& j = i;
function(j);
}
In the above code, j should not take space on the main stack, but the reference x of function will take a place on its stack. That means when calling function with j as an argument, the address of i that will be pushed on the stack of function. The compiler can and should not reserve space on the main stack for j.
For the array part the standards say ::
C++ Standard 8.3.2/4:
There shall be no references to references, no arrays of references,
and no pointers to references.