one embodiment of the present invention provides a system that facilitates avoiding collisions between cache lines containing objects and cache lines containing corresponding object table entries . during operation , the system receives an object identifier for an object , wherein the object identifier is used to address the object in an object - addressed memory hierarchy . the system then applies a mapping function to the object identifier to compute an address for a corresponding object table entry associated with the object , wherein the mapping function ensures that a cache line containing the object table entry does not collide with a cache line containing the object .