  Training deep neural networks for solving machine learning problems is one
great challenge in the field, mainly due to its associated optimisation problem
being highly non-convex. Recent developments have suggested that many training
algorithms do not suffer from undesired local minima under certain scenario,
and consequently led to great efforts in pursuing mathematical explanations for
such observations. This work provides an alternative mathematical understanding
of the challenge from a smooth optimisation perspective. By assuming exact
learning of finite samples, sufficient conditions are identified via a critical
point analysis to ensure any local minimum to be globally minimal as well.
Furthermore, a state of the art algorithm, known as the Generalised
Gauss-Newton (GGN) algorithm, is rigorously revisited as an approximate
Newton's algorithm, which shares the property of being locally quadratically
convergent to a global minimum under the condition of exact learning.

Machine Learning;Artificial Intelligence;Neural and Evolutionary Computing;Optimization and Control