  Disc fragmentation provides an important mechanism for producing low mass
stars in prestellar cores. Here, we describe Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics
simulations which show how populations of prestellar cores evolve into stars.
We find the observed masses and multiplicities of stars can be recovered under
certain conditions.
  First, protostellar feedback from a star must be episodic. The continuous
accretion of disc material on to a central protostar results in local
temperatures which are too high for disc fragmentation. If, however, the
accretion occurs in intense outbursts, separated by a downtime of
$\sim10^4\,\mathrm{years}$, gravitational instabilities can develop and the
disc can fragment.
  Second, a significant amount of the cores' internal kinetic energy should be
in solenoidal turbulent modes. Cores with less than a third of their kinetic
energy in solenoidal modes have insufficient angular momentum to form
fragmenting discs. In the absence of discs, cores can fragment but results in a
top heavy distribution of masses with very few low mass objects.
