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well, reading "papers" usually means current papers. and if you want to start reading string theory papers, probably you will be lost.
if you want to read the math of "quantum mechanics" then yes you'll be fine. particle physics, as far as it exists now, is either abstract BSM theory stuff, in which case you will need to be pretty good at Lie algebras and advanced Lie group theory (most undergrads don't get this far) or it will be very computational as in lattice QCD, which requires a good amount of PDEs and numerical stuff, which might be more within your reach.
it really depends. i mean, at least one guy publishing high-energy theoretical physics is a fields medalist, so the math gets way above even graduate level. and on the other hand, AMO guys who claim to be on the cutting edge of quantum mechanics are just doing diff.EQ. there are even some biophysicists who literally are just doing newton's laws. so it really depends.
