On Hilbert's sixth problem

Abstract: Feynman path integrals are now a standard tool in quantum physics and their use in differential geometry leads to new mathematical insights. A logical treatment of quantum phenomena seems to require a sustained mathematical analysis of path integrals. The subject is complicated by the fact that their application in flat space-time is quite different from how path integrals are used in, say, topological quantum field theory, where there is no natural notion of time translation. An historical background is given in this paper and a few mathematical approaches to Feynman path integrals in the context of nonrelativistic quantum mechanics and scalar quantum fields with polynomial self-interactions are outlined.