Divisorial contractions in dimension three which contract divisors to smooth points (Q5944970)

The paper is the beginning of the author's work in classifying extremal divisorial contractions of terminal 3-folds, for the full collection see [\textit{M. Kawakita}, J. Am. Math. Soc. 16, No.2, 331--362 (2003; Zbl 1059.14021); Compos. Math. 133, No.1, 95--116 (2002; Zbl 1059.14020) and Duke Math. J. 130, No.1, 57--126 (2005; Zbl 1091.14008)]. This impressing amount of work is crucial in many aspects of minimal model theory for 3-folds. In this first breakthrough paper the author is able to classify all contraction to smooth points. The result is that the unique extractions are weighted blow up of type \((1,a,b)\) with \((a,b)=1\). The result has been conjectured for a long time. The author is able to translate the geometry of the weighted blow up into algebraic information on twisted structural sheaves and then to conclude the classification.