I want to investigate different models/theories/areas of research for problems in Resource Allocation.
In general terms, by 'resource allocation' I mean problems that involve a finite amount of resources that need to be allocated across demand so some function is optimized. For example, a taxi company has a finite number of vehicles to serve clients to maximize profit, or minimize customer dissatisfaction/wait times, or whatever function is being optimized.
So far my basic google/wikipedia search has brought up:
1) stochastic scheduling which is broken down into various categories, such as Batch scheduling, Multi-armed Bandit Problems, Queueing systems.
2) Also I've ran into the term Operations Research, which also happens to have a journal that I can look into, I believe problems of this nature are addressed here.
3) I've also noticed papers where people discuss resource allocation problems using Potts Models, which come from statistical physics.
Can you point me to any other directions where problems specifically in Research Allocation are discussed, or any stats/other textbooks that touch on this topic? Thanks!
Introductory textbooks in the areas of operations research, management science and (maybe) industrial engineering will usually cover research allocation models, particularly those that are deterministic (all model parameters, such as supplies and demands, are assumed known at the outset). Typically those books will be organized around model types (linear programming, integer programming, network models, dynamic programming ...) rather than problem types, so you may need to flip through one, looking for the examples, and identify examples that fit your resource allocation paradigm.