  Training neural networks is a challenging non-convex optimization problem,
and backpropagation or gradient descent can get stuck in spurious local optima.
We propose a novel algorithm based on tensor decomposition for guaranteed
training of two-layer neural networks. We provide risk bounds for our proposed
method, with a polynomial sample complexity in the relevant parameters, such as
input dimension and number of neurons. While learning arbitrary target
functions is NP-hard, we provide transparent conditions on the function and the
input for learnability. Our training method is based on tensor decomposition,
which provably converges to the global optimum, under a set of mild
non-degeneracy conditions. It consists of simple embarrassingly parallel linear
and multi-linear operations, and is competitive with standard stochastic
gradient descent (SGD), in terms of computational complexity. Thus, we propose
a computationally efficient method with guaranteed risk bounds for training
neural networks with one hidden layer.
