Presenting theoretical arguments and numerical results we demonstrate long-range intrachain correlations in concentrated solutions and melts of long flexible polymers which cause a systematic swelling of short chain segments. They can be traced back
to the incompressibility of the melt leading to an effective repulsion $u(s) approx s/rho R^3(s) approx ce/sqrt{s}$ when connecting two segments together where $s$ denotes the curvilinear length of a segment, $R(s)$ its typical size, $ce approx 1/rho be^3$ the ``swelling coefficient, $be$ the effective bond length and $rho$ the monomer density. The relative deviation of the segmental size distribution from the ideal Gaussian chain behavior is found to be proportional to $u(s)$. The analysis of different moments of this distribution allows for a precise determination of the effective bond length $be$ and the swelling coefficient $ce$ of asymptotically long chains. At striking variance to the short-range decay suggested by Florys ideality hypothesis the bond-bond correlation function of two bonds separated by $s$ monomers along the chain is found to decay algebraically as $1/s^{3/2}$. Effects of finite chain length are considered briefly.
